Council bans horses (From Free Press Series)

Council bans horses

HORSES have been banned from grazing on Castle Meadows in Abergavenny, following a debate at Monmouthshire's cabinet meeting.

The debate split members with some believing the recommendation to ban horses to be "nonsense".

Since 2001, a number of incidents involving animals and visitors have been reported to the council, but these have reduced considerably as the animals have become more familiar with visitors.

The measure to ban horses was recommended by the Bryn-Y-Cwm area committee, which in a report to the council, said the land should continue to be managed by traditional agricultural means, including grazing by cows, but not horses.

A local farmer is tenant of the land from March to December, and from July to December, cattle and horses are grazed there.

At last week's cabinet meeting, Councillor Verona Nelmes, cabinet member for social services, was in support of the recommendations and referred to the original lease which said that only cattle could graze on the land.

She recalled a "frightening" incident last July when a group of horses galloped through a gang of children playing cricket.

Cllr Nelmes added: "While the horses look lovely, we have to consider the safety of the people. "I am concerned that 99 percent of the time they are safe, but any single thing, the sound of a firework, can trigger them off and potentially cause a stampede."

Councillor Rob Griffiths hit back saying: "I am completely against it. It doesn't make sense. Dogs can attack children, but are we going to ban all dogs? And then maybe we should think about banning cows. It's nonsense."

Cllr Giles Howard supported the recommendation as did Cllr Pam Birch, cabinet member for public safety, who told members: "Public safety must come first."

Author of the report, countryside manager Matthew Lewis, confirmed that horses were due to be brought on to the meadows in July, but this would not now take place.