Professional AdviceYou are here : News and Press » News Archive » Agriculture » Pest Control
|
Ban On Mole Control "A Blow" Says CLA CLA members have been shocked to receive letters from Defra which detail plans to ban the use of strychnine (strychnine hydrochloride) from 1 September next year (2006).
Whilst recognising that strychnine is a dangerous chemical that is banned in other EU states, CLA is concerned that the broad scale lush pasture of the British countryside is a breeding ground for moles and thus the UK needs to retain this effective method.Joanna Hilditch, a CLA member who farms and runs luxury holiday lets in Herefordshire said, "Our pest control company has warned us that when strychnine disappears we will be faced with serious mole problems as there is no other financially viable route for elimination of this pest. In the past, when supplies have been short and we have had to wait for long periods of time until the product was available, the problem became well nigh unbearable in our permanent pasture." Moles can be controlled in gardens and amenity grounds by other means, but at field scale level, strychnine is an important tool which must be maintained for use in appropriate and limited circumstances, in accordance with the existing Defra licensing regime. CLA President, Mark Hudson said "I believe that strychnine is the only effective poison to control moles. If so we will be in for an explosion of moles when strychnine is banned and this will be particularly detrimental for livestock farmers. Soil contamination in silage will be the biggest problem and that can lead to livestock deaths. "We regard the existing licensing regime as appropriate to deal with the potential for wildlife crime. Criminals will use any means to hand, and simply withdrawing an important and useful land management tool will not, in our view, reduce the impact of criminal activities. "The Defra proposals arise as a result of two EU directives. We will be calling on Defra to secure a derogation for a continued safe and licensed use of strychnine in the limited circumstances where it is necessary." The Defra proposals are to be found at: http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/approvals.asp?id=1475 9 September 2005 |
Contact Media Contacts Ollie Wilson T: 020 7460 7936
T: 020 7460 7934
Join the CLA today
The CLA Game Fair 2012
More articles and documents [News Archive] [10 March 2005] GN54-02: RSPCA - Enforcement of animal welfare legislation [Guidance notes] [17 December 2002] Amendments to the Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order [Consultation response archive] [16 September 2005] |
- Policy Topics
- Policy Topics
- Site sections
- Specially for members
© 2012 Country Land and Business Association Limited (CLA). All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as expressly permitted by law.
Disclaimer
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action in reliance on or as a result of the material included in or omitted in this website can be or is accepted by the author(s), the CLA or its officers or trustees or employees or any other persons.
The Advisory Services are made available to members on the basis that members' rights to compensation and the liability (if any) of CLA and its officers and/or its staff advisers, are restricted in the following ways. In the event of any advice given by any CLA staff adviser being given negligently or otherwise being incorrect no liability whatsoever is accepted by the CLA or its officers or by its staff advisers concerned
(a) towards any person who is not the current CLA member to whom the advice was directly given,
(b) to any person in the respect of consequential loss or loss of profits, or
(c) to any person for any sum exceeding £50,000 in respect of any one enquiry (whether made or responded to orally or in writing and whether dealt with at one time or over a period of time).
Any person making use of the Advisory Services accepts such restrictions. Members should refer to appropriate professional advisers in private practice before taking any particular course of action potentially or actually involving any substantial amounts of money.
Please note that whilst the advisers are able to advise on a wide range of subjects relating to land ownership, they cannot act in place of a member's own solicitor, accountant, surveyor and tax specialist by, for example, drafting documents or corresponding on their behalf and may be precluded, by the rules of their own professions, from advising one CLA member against another CLA member in the case of conflict.
Solicitors Indemnity Fund . Solicitors in the CLA Legal Team are not covered by the Solicitors Indemnity Fund in relation to professional negligence in relation to any advice given by them.
Please note that from time to time telephone calls maybe recorded for training purposes.