[United Utilities CEO Louisa Beardmore]
The recent announcement that United Utilities will not be renewing shooting leases on its land, citing water quality concerns, lacks any substantiated evidence.
It appears to be a diversion tactic to distract attention from their own environmental shortcomings as England's worst polluting water company.
As we reported yesterday, data released from the Environment Agency showed that the company owned half of the country's 20 pipes that spilled the most sewage in the England and had pumped waste into the River Ellen, near the Lake District, for nearly 7,000 hours.
United Utilities’ own around 56,000 hectares encompassing the Forest of Bowland, the Goyt Valley, Longdendale Valley, and the West Pennines.
This makes them one of the country's largest landowners, yet a decision to ban shooting will wreak havoc on biodiversity, conservation efforts, and rural livelihoods.
The decision seems to have taken lots of people by surprise, not least some of United Utilities' own staff who have privately expressed their concerns about the impact the decision will have.
Where the decision has arisen from is not yet known however the relationship between criminal animal rights extremists and certain decision makers within United Utilities is being closely examined.
In the meantime we urge all our readers to stand up for the countryside, the environment and the thousands of people who depend on shooting by signing the Countryside Alliance's new petition and requesting that United Utilities reverse their ill-thought-through decision immediately.
To sign the petition please click here.
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