Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

The companythat runsclayshooting ata historicsite

claims that the owner wants to take overthe business

A. GEARD / ALAMY

A bitterrowbetweentheNational

RifleAssociationoftheUK(NRA)

anda privatecompanythat

operatesonits land is heading

tocourt.

Thedisputecentresonthe

endofa 21-yearleaseandlicence

arrangementwithBisleyShooting

GroundLtd,whichoperatesthe

clayshootingatBisley,andthe

company’ssubsequentrefusal

toleavetheproperty.

InJunelastyear,theNRA

announcedit wouldnotrenew

BisleyShootingGround’sleaseon

theclub,noritslicencestooperate

clayshootingatCottesloe Heath

andLongSiberia.

TheleasesexpiredinJunethis

year,butBisleyShootingGround

has so far refused to surrender

possessiontotheNRA.Instead,

it hasinitiatedlegalactioninan

attempttoforce the NRA to issue

newleases.

Ina statementonitswebsite,

BisleyShootingGroundsaid:“We

arechallengingthedecisionin

thecourts,andhavesecuredan

injunctiontopreventtheNRAfrom

imminentlytakingusover.For

yearsgreatefforthasbeenmadeto

communicateopenlywiththeNRA

toreacha solutionsatisfactoryto

all,howevertheNRAareresolutein

wantingtotakeoverourbusiness

andrunit themselves.”

Ina replyonitswebsite,NRA

chiefexecutiveAndrewMercer

said:“TheactionsoftheNRA

havesolelybeenaimedatholding

BSG as tenant to obligations they

undertookwhensigningthelease

andlicence.Toexpecta tenant

tohonourtheircommitments

is notbullying—it is professional

propertymanagementthatis

expectedofcharitytrustees.”

MrMerceralsoclaimedthat

in 2018 “BSGwasofferedthe

opportunitytomakea formal,

unconditional,offerfortheclay-

shootingbusinessatBisley but

declinedtodoso”.

Nodatehasyetbeen set for

thecourthearing.

InDecemberlastyearthe

NRAlosta lengthylegalbattlewith

reservespecialforcesregiment

21 SAS(Artists).Thedisputecame

aboutaftertheNRAsoughtto

raisetherentontheregiment’s

clubhousefrom£3,150a yearto

£14,700,anamountthatwould

haveforcedtheclubtoclose.

Eventually,a rentof£4,

a year was agreed.

Matt Cross

Bisley clay ground

row goes to court

EVENTS DIARY

2 0 J U L Y

DOGSFORDEER

BASCScottishCentre,

Trochy, basc.org.uk

2 6 - 2 8 J U L Y

THEGAMEFAIR

HATFIELDHOUSE

GreatNorthRoad,

Hatfield

thegamefair.org

2 7 J U L Y

YOUNGSHOTS

ACTIVIT YDAY

NorthAntrimRifle&

PistolClub,BellisleRoad,

Dervock

basc.org.uk

30 JULY-1AUG

NEWFORESTSHOW

NewForestShow,New

Park,Brockenhurst,

newforestshow.co.uk

1 - 4 A U G U S T

COUNTRYFILELIVE

BlenheimPalace,

Oxfordshire

countryfilelive.com

0 2 A U G U S T

HIGHLANDFIELD

SPORTSFAIR

MoyEstate,

Inverness-shire

moyfieldsportsfair.co.uk

2 5 - 2 6 A U G

FENLANDCOUNTRY

FAIR

Stow-cum-QuyPark

fenlandfairs.com

Therighttostageclaypigeon

shooting at Bisley is in dispute

“BSGwasofferedthechanceto

make an offer for the shooting”

8 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

NEWS