Grouse shooting has been effectively banned on land owned by a water company under fire over pollution, prompting rural backlash.
United Utilities, the biggest corporate landowner in England, announced that it would not be renewing licences for shoots “to ensure the best possible outcomes for water quality”.
Its land covers huge swathes of the Forest of Bowland, the Goyt Valley, Longdendale Valley, and the West Pennines.
The decision has been condemned by the Countryside Alliance, which said that it had the “hallmarks of an ill-thought-out distraction technique that will inevitably backfire”.
The rural campaign group warned that as a result “a large part of the countryside will no longer want to cooperate with them [United Utilities] in any way”.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the decision emerged after United Utilities’ AGM on Friday, which saw large protests from green campaigners over their environmental record.
United Utilities was identified as England’s worst polluting water company last year in data released by the Environment Agency.
It showed that they owned half of the country’s 20 pipes that spilled the most sewage and had pumped waste into the River Ellen, near the Lake District, for nearly 7,000 hours.
Shoots likely to be impacted have warned that the decision will result in gamekeepers and other staff losing their jobs.
It is understood the longest licence on the company’s land currently runs until 2027.
The government has resisted several campaigns to ban the activity, with Defra stating in 2019: “Grouse shooting is a legitimate activity providing benefits for wildlife and habitat conservation and investment in remote areas.”
Natural England has been working with grouse moors to reverse habitat degradation and help landowners sustainably manage and restore upland peatland habitats.
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “United Utilities seem to be panicking about its recent appalling media coverage over their pollution of our waterways.
“The suggestion that it is banning shooting on its land has all the hallmarks of an ill-thought-out distraction technique that will inevitably backfire.
“If it is true they intend not to renew the leases for shooting, it will have irreversible damaging consequences for the conservation and biodiversity of our precious uplands as well as the livelihoods of rural people.
“Additionally, it will create a new problem for United Utilities which should expect to find all its operations significantly more difficult, as a large part of the countryside will no longer want to cooperate with them in any way.
“It would be a stupid move for any landowner and utility provider to pick a fight with the countryside, let alone one which relies so heavily on access on to other people’s land.”
A spokesman for United Utilities said: “We made the decision some time ago not to issue or renew any leases on a long-term basis on our catchment land where we own the sporting rights.
“This followed a review into the management of the land we own to ensure the best possible outcomes for water quality and we have been communicating this with stakeholders.”
