Calls for road safety measures to protect cattle and horses to be debated
Cllrs John Bloxsom and Chloe Turner are bringing a motion about the issue to Gloucestershire County Council’s full meeting today
Last updated 21st Jul 2024
Councillors are today (November 8) debating proposals for more road safety measures to prevent the killing of cattle and horses on Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons.
The idea has been raised by Cllrs John Bloxsom (L, Rodborough) and Chloe Turner (G, Minchinhampton), who are bringing the motion about the issue to Gloucestershire County Council’s full meeting.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, 450 cows and 'a few' horses graze on the commons, but are continuously at risk of vehicle strikes - with three cows being hit in the last grazing season alone.
Councillors in the area are calling on Shire Hall bosses to do something to prevent this recurring tragedy.
They want the authority to set up a task group with councillors from Minchinhampton, Nailsworth and Rodborough along with the highways, environment and community safety cabinet members to address this situation.
This could include extra road safety measures and they want it to report back with recommendations to the environment scrutiny committee.
“We note that each year several cows are killed, the majority at certain points on the road and in the dark in autumn and that, in a finely balanced ecosystem, free-grazing cattle and horses play a critical role in biodiversity and sustainability of the commons,” their motion reads.
“We commend the work of commoners, graziers, Natural England, National Trust and others in seeking to protect and conserve the commons.”
They want the county council to acknowledge it has legal duties to have regard to conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the Cotswold AONB.
And to take reasonable steps to conserve and enhance the special features of the commons which are sites of special scientific interest and that the council is a competent authority with a duty to help protect, conserve and restore a special area of conservation.
They claim the measures taken so far have regretfully not proven to be adequate to protect cattle and horses from death and injury, the burden of which is carried by farmers exercising their registered grazing rights.