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West Newbury

West Newbury may allow hunting on town-owned land

Selectmen have created a five-member committee that will explore allowing hunting on town-owned land. The board approved creation of the committee, 2-1, with Dick Cushing against. Chairman Bert Knowles and member Glenn Kemper appointed James Driscoll, Christopher Trim, Peter Connolly, and Steve Forrest to the committee, which will also include one representative from the Open Space Committee, still to be determined. The town’s current bylaw requires hunters to have written permission from private landowners to hunt on their land, and that they must carry that written permission with them while hunting. Driscoll, in a presentation to selectmen earlier this month, noted that other towns, including Medfield, Andover, Dover, and Weston have programs in place that allow hunting on town-owned property, based partly on concerns surrounding deer density and Lyme disease. The question first came up in November,  when a resident wrote to selectmen asking whether he could bow hunt on the town-owned Dunn property.