Of course Mendip Hunt master RHJ Williams is bewildered as to why the people of Chewton Mendip don't want the kennels in their village (letter, June 3), hunting is his joie de vivre, his raison d'etre, his passion.

But other people have passions too. A common passion is that for the well-being and safety of our children.

Another is a passion for the preservation of the place in which we live, and the quality of life we are able to enjoy. Another is the passion for the peace and quiet of the countryside, and the ability to saunter along a tranquil country lane undisturbed by 74 dogs out for their daily walk, the faeces they leave behind, fallen stock and offal lorries, and a host of off-roaders bearing horse-trailers reversing along the narrow lanes to let the dustbin lorry through.

Maybe hunting dogs don't bark. Maybe there won't be lots of traffic generated by all the dog shows, meets and other events that the hunt run from their current site.

Maybe it would be rather nice for the hunt to have their headquarters in the middle of the green fields of Chewton Mendip, after all, we think it's beautiful.

And maybe the people of Priddy who don't want the kennels to be any closer to their village than they are now, are equally misinformed. Maybe we are all wrong.

We all have passions. It is just a shame when the passions of the few encroach upon the passions of the many and disregard their importance, dismissing them as ignorant and ridiculous.

Perhaps, Mr Williams, if the Mendip Hunt really did have as many supporters as you claim, you would indeed have managed to raise the funds to buy your site at Priddy, which would of course keep everybody happy, wouldn't it?

Steve Clark

Chewton Mendip

Re: Hunt kennels plan for Chewton Mendip.

The meeting (reported in May 29's Journal) was dominated by two issues, first the behaviour of the Mendip Hunt with respect to prior consultation and, secondly, the impact of the development on local residents.

Because of the anger on the first issue, all objectivity was lost on the second. The fact is that the kennels will not be obtrusive in the proposed location, and the noise, smell, light pollution and traffic issues have been exaggerated out of all proportion.

Unusually in any planning application, those potentially affected can, right now, see, hear and smell the reality by just visiting the existing kennels, and by speaking to the nearby residents.

I am not a hunting person, but enjoy supporting. I have been at the kennels on many occasions and I am convinced such visits would provide the reassurance that would allow this application to proceed.

The question was asked at the meeting "what does this application bring to Chewton Mendip?"

What it brings is truly one of the most iconic pieces of English country tradition into the parish. It brings the opportunity for villagers and their children to be closely involved in the animal husbandry aspects implicit in the running of the stables and kennels, it brings another work activity into the village.

The English countryside and its villages are not simply composed of sleepy lanes, cottages and nice scenery, it is also a place for work and vocational activities. The hunt provides a valuable fallen stock service to the farmers, and also provides work for its own staff and supporting professions.

To be the base for such an activity should bring pride to Chewton Mendip, not dismay. In all respects, the location at Splott seems ideal for the new kennels, it is indeed a shame if those protesting will not avail themselves of the opportunity to reassure themselves by visiting the kennels.

If, after the visit, if they would still choose to object, then at least it would be based on some facts, not misinformed speculation.

Peter Williams

Chewton Mendip

With his glib, insufferably patronising dismissal of Chewton Mendip's fears over the Mendip Hunt's plan for a kennels complex close to the village, RHJ Williams has placed his organisation in a deeply dishonourable light.

He attempted to ridicule protesting local residents by suggesting the application was being greeted by us as if it were a nuclear power station. Well let me tell him that, as a mother-of-two children who regularly use the lanes around the site, when I contemplate a future darkened by the spectre of increased traffic, a pack of 80 noisy dogs fouling the roads surfaces and verges, and the rest of the inevitable distress associated with an idyllic rural corner being besmirched by grossly unsuitable development, then it feels like we are being threatened by a nuclear power station.

As for Mr Williams' implication that the hunt had adhered to the legal time limit for consultation, I don't dispute they have followed the letter of the law – but certainly they have abandoned its spirit. Common decency should have dictated that such a controversial plan be discussed with the community many months before it went to the district council.

Finally, let me note that Mr Williams lives at Croscombe, many miles away from the people on whose doorstep he seeks to dump the unsavoury by-products of what is, after all, merely his hobby.

Pippa Thornton

Chewton Mendip