Farmers, Gamekeepers, and Hospitality Staff Call For Dialogue With United Utilities

When the water company United Utilities announced that it would not be renewing shooting leases on its land something extraordinary happened. It united gamekeepers, farmers and those in the hospitality industry that would be directly or indirectly impacted. Last week they drove from the Peak District, Calderdale and the Forest of Bowland to meet and share views. Such spontaneous unity from those working in the rural community is rare. Something was seriously wrong.

United’s tenants feel exasperated by the opacity of the company’s decision-making process.

These were rational people. They recognised that, as a landowner, United Utilities is free to decide what should happen on its land. What had caused such outrage was the lack of transparency around the decision making process and the way tenants were being treated by United Utilities. Those managing its land, in some cases for generations, stood up at the meeting and explained that they have been working to land management plans written by United Utilities. They felt they had an exemplary record. What was now so wrong? Some had letters of gratitude for their hard work from United Utilities. They were clearly proud to have received such praise from their landlords. However, these words were no longer worth the paper they were written on.

Those managing land that neighbours United Utilities moors expressed exasperation at the ever-increasing wildfire fuel loads building up on land where United Utilities has ceased all traditional management. One had received a letter of thanks for helping to extinguish a wildfire on United Utilities land. It was unclear if such co-operation would exist going forward. Others explained that they would not be putting themselves or their kit at risk to assist a water company that is deliberately increasing the wildfire fuel load.

The meeting continued with other points of concern. Of course, there was no one from United Utilities there to hear a single word of this. Decision makers at its head office in Warrington remained behind locked doors. You can’t even speak to someone at United Utilities. If you ring its head office on 01925 237000 all you hear is a message to say that “we will be with you as soon as we can” and then “a member of our team will be with you shortly to help”. However, after 1 minute and 36 seconds you are told “thank you for calling, the switchboard is now closed”. United Utilities employs 5,728 staff - perhaps one or two might start taking calls from outside the bunker.

There is simply no way for those managing United Utilities land to talk to the company directly about its U-turn announcement. There is more than a lingering suspicion that any offer of a review is a move to buy time. It will then continue with its plan to not renew shooting leases. Those with livelihoods on the line deserve to be treated better than this. Farmers already fear that they are next in line for the United Utilities chop. They can smell it a mile off.    

At the meeting it was agreed we need a new working approach with United Utilities. A positive one. We agreed to form a Consultative Panel that will review and feed information direct to United Utilities. We hope that in response United Utilities will positively engage and attend meetings. It is time to move forward.

This will take time but a good place to start would be a flow of information from United Utilities to help those on the ground understand what it is trying to achieve, why, and how it will be measured. Who knows, perhaps one day a Memorandum of Understanding can be agreed. A proper foundation to build trust.

The Panel has many questions. Some of these have been posted on our website. Today we have written to United Utilities Chief Executive, Louise Beardmore with a simple question. Is it still neutral on game shooting? It’s a quick one to answer and could be the first small step in forging a productive relationship with those working so hard on our moorlands today; protecting the precious landscapes and communities we all cherish.