Shibden and District Bridleways Association is a not-
Website designed by Paul Talbot-
Petitions
Horse Tax
If you have online access and have not yet signed the petition against the yearly
Horse Tax -
Below is some background information to the petition:
'Ministers are now under pressure to reconsider these controversial plans to introduce this new tax on horse owners after over 10,000 people signed a petition opposing the move. The petition is currently the 15th most popular on the 10 Downing Street website, out of a total of 4,766.
Even before the Government's draft Animal Health Bill was published on the 24 January
it had drawn criticism from the horse sector unhappy that the Government is pressing
ahead with the plans despite overwhelming opposition from horse owners. Campaigners
have been logging on to the 10 Downing Street website since September to have their
say on the proposals, which would see every horse owner in the country hit with a
'tax in all but name' on each of their animals to help pay for a new Government agency
to oversee animal health. Yet despite Minister for the Horse Jim Fitzpatrick telling
MPs that the Government is "keen for there to be as much scrutiny as possible",
the publication of the Bill comes well before a cross-
Horse owners have been highly critical of the plans since they were published last year, with many angry that the proposed new system of charges would place a heavy burden on the horse sector without offering any clear benefits to equestrians in return. Critics have also pointed to the poor value for money which taxpayers would receive from such a move, arguing that any new body would spend much of its time collecting charges from people who own just a single horse; a group who make up 65% of all owners. With the administrative cost of collecting the charge almost outweighing the charge itself in these cases, an estimated £2.3m would need to be spent to collect just £4.5m, says Rethink the Horse Tax, the campaign behind the petition.
Veterinarians, too, have warned that creating a new layer of bureaucracy will complicate the process of responding to animal disease outbreaks. Welfare groups have also joined animal keepers and vets in expressing opposition to the plans, as they artificially separate animal health and welfare. Mark Weston , Director of Access Safety and Welfare at The British Horse Society, said: "We need to make sure that politicians in Westminster are made fully aware of the potential damage that these proposals could do to the horse sector, and the lack of any perceived benefit that they would bring to the millions of Britons who enjoy horse riding each year." '
Petition for Horse Riders to use Cyclepaths
Since 1968 all bridleways, irrespective of width, sightlines, surface, urban or rural, have been legally shared by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. Yet legislation ensures access only to walkers and cyclists on cyclepaths. Bridleways are used as part of the Safe Routes to School network, yet horse riders, over 85% of whom are women and children, are forced onto dangerous roads instead of sharing safe, off road cyclepaths. There are well over 29 accidents between horse riders and vehicles per day, 10,658 per year, many of which result in death or serious injury. There is no justification at all for discriminating against this vulnerable user group. Please put right the wrongs of the last 40 years and save lives.