Shooters hit with £165,000 after damage to SSSI

daffodils in Farndale (credit: deargdoom57)

A field sports company that damaged Farndale Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the North Yorkshire National Park have been hit with a total of £165,000 in fines and costs at York Crown Court. The company also has it’s own £145,000 defence bill to pay bringing the total cost to £310,000.

The company, Yorks Sport Limited, and a director, Michael Wood, were both fined £20,000 each and ordered to pay £125,000 in court costs. The action was taken by Natural England after the company caused damage to the ground flora of the SSSI.

Farndale SSSI attracts visitors to see it’s wild daffodils.

Farndale SSSI is an important area for wild flowers and other plants, it is particularly well known for it’s display of wild daffodils. The site is made up of broadleaved woodland and unimproved grassland and marshes. It runs alongside the River Dove. The site was first notified in 1987 as being of importance locally. The SSSI is found within the Farndale Local Nature Reserve which was established in 1955.

the sheer number of pheasants released was unsustainable and so damaging that a prosecution had to be brought.

The company cauded damage to the site through a number of activities during the period 2006 till 2009. The car park was extended without permission, vehicles were driven on to the site without permission, pheasant pens were constructed, bridges were built and the company also encouraged the pheasant population to increase on the site by setting out feeders and food.

York Sports Ltd disputed amount of damage it caused to the SSSI.

The company and director admitted the offences at earlier hearings last year but disputed the amount of damage that was done to the SSSI. The judge at York Crown Court, Judge (Stephen) Ashurst, decided that the activities did cause substantial damage to the site and the company undertook activities to increase pheasant populations knowing it was illlegal and did it purely for commercial gain.

Janette Ward, Natural England’s Regulation Director, said: “We appreciate that shooting makes an important contribution to the economy and landscape of rural areas and we are keen to work with sporting estates to support their efforts. In this case, however, the sheer number of pheasants released was unsustainable and so damaging that a prosecution had to be brought. We hope the company will now work with us to manage this special woodland appropriately in the future”.

Tens of thousands of pheasants attracted to protected site.

The ground plants of the SSSI was extensively damaged by the actions of the game birds scratching and pecking at the ground looking for food. The area affected covered 50 acres and it has still not recovered. The company has since removed the feeders and stopped actively attracting the birds to the site but the numbers of pheasants at Farndale remain excessively high. The numbers of extra pheasants attracted to the site is thought to run into 10′s of thousands and were far too many for the site to support without damage.

Tim Russell, Director of Conservation at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: “BASC condemns the actions on this shoot which have led to the damage of a SSSI. All shoots have a responsibility to understand the importance of protected sites and to work with conservation agencies to ensure shooting is compatible with such sites. People need to be aware of the rules and they need to make sure they abide by them.”

The company is now working with Natural England to try and re-establish the site.