BACKERS of a scheme to stop sheep being a nuisance in Bream have hit back at criticism of it by the Forest of Dean Commoners’ Association.

West Dean Parish Council says the proposed Public Spaces Protection Order will en-

courage ‘responsible shepherding.’

Commoners’?Association secretary Mick Holder has claimed the order would be impossible to police without extra resources and impossible for sheep badgers to comply with.

Dave Kent, clerk to the council, said: “The proposed Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), the subject of a recent consultation exercise by the Forest of Dean District Council, does not challenge the ancient custom of commoning of sheep in the Forest of Dean.

“WDPC strongly supports responsible shepherding in the Forest, and encourages commoners to comply with the ‘Agreement on Responsible Shepherding’ which they signed up to with the Forestry Commission and the chair of the Sheep Liaison Group.”

The order would make it an offence for anyone to allow sheep to enter and remain within a designated area but will not prohibit sheep from passing through from one area of grazing land to another. The agreement states that ‘hefted sheep are suffered to move from common grazing to common grazing, but in doing so they must not be allowed to lie within the built up area’. In other words, the PSPO will enforce compliance with the existing agreement.

“Sheep are a danger to road users and pavements are often impassable because of sheep droppings.

“Footpath users are often forced onto the road and mess is carried into schools, offices and homes. Gardens and public amenity areas are damaged. There are open spaces in residential areas in which sheep have taken up permanent residence, which become unusable by the public.

“WDPC received 480 complaints about sheep over the last two and half years, all of them breaches of the agreement. A survey five years ago in Bream showed an overwhelming majority of residents supported a ‘no sheep in the villages’ policy. If the current consultation on the proposed PSPO in Bream provides a similar result, we hope the district council, having initiated the consultation, will act upon its recommendations.”