Stroud Valleys Project

Stroud Valleys Project has some fantastic events coming up...

Badger Watches

Friday 11 July & Thursday 7^th August - 7pm-9.30pm

During this enchanting event you will see local badgers being fed in the daylight and learn about them with expert Tony Dean.  Children are welcome when accompanied by an adult but they must be absolutely silent while we are at the sett.

During the evening we will be crossing three stiles. Unfortunately, this means the event is not suitable for wheelchair users or for people with serious mobility problems

Please wear suitable footwear   and bring some warm clothing and some rainwear, if necessary. We will also be sitting on the grass so please bring something to sit on too.

Cost: £4/adult, £3/child (under 16) - Booking is essential as places will be limited.

To book a place on any of these interesting events please call us at the Stroud Valleys Project office on 01453 753358

Glow-worm Walk & Talk

Friday 11^th July & Friday 18^th July 7.30pm - 10.30pm -

Denise Gibbons, a local insect enthusiast, will give an illustrated talk on the fascinating lives of glow-worms and fireflies, followed by a walk at nightfall to see our glowing female insects in their natural habitat.  Refreshments will be served after the talk.

The walk will be in the dark along uneven tarmac paths so please bring a torch and wear suitable footwear. Please bring some warm clothing and rainwear if necessary. Unfortunately, this walk is not suitable for children under five.

Cost: £3/adult, £2/child (under 16) – Booking is essential as places will be limited.

Badger Watches

Friday 11 July & Thursday 7^th August - 7pm-9.30pm

During this enchanting event you will see local badgers being fed in the daylight and learn about them with expert Tony Dean.  Children are welcome when accompanied by an adult but they must be absolutely silent while we are at the sett.

During the evening we will be crossing three stiles. Unfortunately, this means the event is not suitable for wheelchair users or for people with serious mobility problems

Please wear suitable footwear   and bring some warm clothing and some rainwear, if necessary. We will also be sitting on the grass so please bring something to sit on too.

Cost: £4/adult, £3/child (under 16) - Booking is essential as places will be limited.

To book a place on any of these interesting events please call us at the Stroud Valleys Project office on 01453 753358

You can also support SVP by buying a raffle ticket...

By purchasing a ticket (or two) your contribution will help us to achieve even more in 2014 and will enable us carry on our important work in the Stroud Valleys - from improving the local environment to helping local nature and supporting local people. You can win, a bottle of Heidsieck Champagne which has been kindly donated by a volunteer, a selection of Café Direct goods worth £32 donated by Ecotricity and tickets donated by Gifford’s Circus for two adults and two children worth £40. Simply call in to the shop next time you’re passing, buy some tickets and help support our vital work.

Of course, buying more raffle tickets could mean the chance of even more prizes for you to win and we do have more prizes to tempt you.These prizes have also been generously donated by local friends of Stroud Valleys Projects:

Sunshine Health Shop has donated an exotic cordial made by local Stroud producer Sam Angelo – these cordials are very popular in the Sunshine shop, Winstone’s Ice Cream our famous local ice cream making family are offering a voucher, Stroud Brewery are donating one of their coveted hoodies worth £25, Stroud Bookshop our only independent bookshop has donated a book voucher, Bottle Green are also offering a prize of a selection of their award-winning cordials , sparkling presses and still drinks valued at over £20, and Vue Cinemas in Stroud have donated two cinema tickets worth £15.

The draw takes place on 21^st July

Guest Blog: Martin Hancox on badgers

Graffiti in Stroud

This is a guest post from M.Hancox MA Oxon, ex-Government TB Panel, Stroud, Glos. Not views of Green Party but thought provoking:

So, here we are in a Brave New Year and the flood of badger mythology / nonsense continues... apparently Minister, the Hon. Owen Praterson recently told both Parliament and the Oxford Farming Conference, that the two (politically "science based") Pilot badger culls in Glos./Somerset were a "Roaring Success,". which rather proves Joe Ashton's blunt view that the key qualification for being a successful MP is "To master the art of peddling bullshit"!. Alice in Wonderland Rules...

it seems that since culls are "essential, humane, cost-effective, and science based", Ministers are "Minded" to role out a further 10 Pilot Culls in 2014.

In fact the farcical cull omnishambles with "civil war" in England’s green and pleasant land, between protestors/cullers, with extra policing cost £7 million, so £4000 per badger of the 1771 badgers culled. This was way below the magic 70 % out of a guestimated population of 3000 or 6000 (!) badgers, which apparently "moved the goalposts "as to numbers:- it was obvious even before the launch that the a cull of 70 % of in truth an unknown base population was rather daft. And on DEFRA's own data, only about 10% would have been infected so 170 badgers, of which a mere dozen likely to have advanced TB and be "superexcretors" which might pose a risk via an uncertain transmission route to other badgers or cows. Obviously this won’t have made the slightest difference to controlling the spread of cattle TB which has been spread amongst cattle anyway (seewww.badgersandtb.com). So, a very expensive way to not control the spread of TB, and unsustainable given that the DEFRA budget must cut £200 Million over the next 4 years.

Even some farmers recognised "shooting free running badgers" was/ is a pretty crass idea. The idea of alternative culling such as by gassing goes back to the 1970s, but it was hydrogen cyanide, not carbon monoxide, it was inhumane since even power gassing did not permeate in lethal concentrations in diffuse setts, and it did not cure TB in the Thornbury Avon study area. There were yearly "unconfirmed" outbreaks after gassing ended, having wiped out the badger population, but these are the 85 % of New cattle herd breakdowns usually allegedly "due to badgers", but in fact are merely due to skin test reactors caught so early that they do not show TB lesions or identifiable M.bovis, but they are not false positive cases, they DO have TB !

The biggest farcical claim persisting is that Badger culls or vaccines will make any difference. The true result of the RBCT/Krebs Cull (ISG 2007) has been widely misinterpreted:- since supposedly badgers cause 50 % of cattle herd breakdowns, there should have been half the number of breakdowns (834) in cull versus no cull areas , But the cull of 11,000 badgers at a cost of £50 million was absolutely ZERO effect on cattle TB, the accumulated number of breakdowns after 8 years was 1562 in cull areas versus 1668 in no cull areas, i.e.. a mere 106 herds, or 10 per 300 sq.km. triplet area. The only surprise was the vagaries of cattle controls did not have a bigger differential inefficacy.

The logical conclusion from all this is that: -
A. the badger contribution to cattle TB was absolutely NIL, and
B. the whole "Perturbation idea", that culls might work or might make things worse by upsetting the badger population, so that badger vaccines might be the magic bullet (cost £640 / badger in Wales) is a wonderfully insane solution to a non-existent problem.

Sincerely, M.Hancox MA Oxon, ex-Government TB Panel , Stroud, Glos.

Badger vaccination supported by Greens

Philip dressed as badger

A motion to argue that a badger vaccination project should receive funding from Stroud District Council was supported at Full Council on Thursday night. Philip Booth writes:
 
As many will know the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust runs a badger vaccination programme within the district in a bid to tackle the spread of bovine TB. The motion was to request that the authority matches funding of up to £12,500 for the programme to continue. See SNJ report here.


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I have met farmers and vets over the years and understand the distress that the continuing problem of TB in cattle is causing to farmers. However the cull is just plain nonsense as many councillors argued on the evening. The Randomised Badger-Culling Trial concluded, the focus of funding and research should be cattle-based measures to control TB, and funding for badger vaccination trials. A cull is cruel, unethical and unscientific. Greens have been totally against it – indeed Natalie Bennett, the Green Party leader has been on badger patrols in cull areas looking for wounded and dead badgers.

In the past I have in the past dressed as a badger on Stroud High Street to collect signatures for a petition to stop a cull. You therefore might think I would leap to support this motion – I didn’t leap. Is it really the business of this District council to be supporting such measures?

Well after thought I concluded that it is. We talk lots in this Council about regeneration and wanting to support local businesses - and indeed have done in a huge variety of ways like the Buy Local scheme to support for food projects. Well here is an opportunity to support our local farmers. At the meeting this was a point well made by other councillors.

In the end 22 councillors supported it, while 15 councillors voted against it and one abstained. I understand some of the reservations by other councillors about the role of the district in this but did not understand the repeated argument from those opposing that this was some how through the back-door and not part of the councillors procedures - one of the reasons Paul Denney bought this to Council as a motion was so that it could be debated openly.

Stroud District Council was the first council in the country to ban culling on their land - it is great we are now taking a lead on this.

Killing badgers won’t save cows

Bovine TB has a dreadful impact on the livelihoods and emotional well-being of the farming community in South West England. The physical suffering of infected cows, the destruction of herds and the damage to farmers’ livelihoods are issues we care about. Killing badgers is not the answer. In fact much of the available scientific evidence suggests badger culls could contribute to worsening the problem as distressed surviving animals move on, potentially carrying disease into previously uninfected areas. Killing badgers doesn’t solve the problem of cows catching TB from other cows, either.

Supporting farmers and the rural economy means finding a rational and practical solution to TB that will work for the long term. Shooting badgers may be an easy response, and it may satisfy a human, emotional need to ‘do something’ but that does not turn it into a wise and productive choice.  The Green Party in the South West does not believe that culling badgers is the answer. We are responding to the available scientific research, and have supported a number of methods that, used together would create a more humane and functional alternative that could make a genuine difference for farmers, cows and badgers alike. The spread of TB can be tackled by improving ‘biosecurity’, reducing contact between badgers and cattle, by making cattle yards and feed sheds badger-proof and using electric fencing and road barriers to keep badgers and cattle apart out in the fields. Transmission between cows can be reduced by using the interferon blood test on cattle, as this is more sensitive than the skin test, giving more accurate results in the first place. Controls on movements of cattle between holdings under the same occupancy would help, along with strict controls on movements of cattle out of high risk areas. Vaccination of the badger population can reduce bovine TB in cattle, and ultimately it should be possible to effectively vaccinate cattle.

Dairy farming and beef cattle are important for the economy and landscape of South West England. Bovine TB is a serious threat to the industry. However, more should also be done to recognise other threats including the economic pressure on our farmers caused by the buying power of big supermarkets.

Emily McIvor, the Green Party’s national speaker on rural affairs and a candidate in next year's European Parliamentary elections said:

 “We need a long-term solution that avoids culling; our wild animals are precious, and when conflicts arise between farming interests and animal welfare, the Green Party will always look for a balance that is both humane and rational. The scientific evidence is weighted heavily against the cull and even the author of the main government paper, Professor John Krebs, architect of the landmark 10-year culling trials that ended in 2007, has called the cull ‘mindless’. The Green Party is clear that culling is not the answer to what we consider a very serious rural problem.”

Molly Scott Cato, the lead South-West Green Party candidate in the 2014 European elections and leader of the Green group on Stroud District Council is facing culling in her local area of Gloucestershire. She said:

 “In view of the likely local opposition to the badger cull in my local area I find it deeply regrettable that the National Farmers Union (NFU) decided to try to limit peaceful protest on this issue and welcome the judge's ruling on the injunction that the right to peaceful protest must be protected. The attempt to suppress peaceful opposition is a sign of weakness and it shows that the NFU knows the public, like the Green Party, is against the cull.”

Stroud has been at the forefront of badger vaccination work, with the Stroud based Badger Vaccination Deployment Project http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/science/bovine-tb/bvdp/ “During the 2012 field season, we vaccinated 998 badgers. This follows a very successful field season in 2011, when 628 badgers were vaccinated across 86 premises covering 8400 ha. In 2010, we vaccinated 541 badgers across 93 premises, covering approximately 9000 ha of land.” Vaccination is a carefully organised intervention that harms no other wildlife, does not run any risk of injured badgers roaming the countryside, does not leave us with badger bodies to find and deal with, and causes very little distress all round.

To catch up on science issues and local thinking about badgers, Stroud community TV interview with Dr Chris Cheeseman http://stroudcommunity.tv/badgers-everything-about-them-plus-to-cull-or-not/ and visit www.southwestgreenparty.org.uk for more information about The Green Party in the southwest.

Badger campaign success in Gloucestershire?

Opposite the Lockkeepers cafe/bar in Stroud

Update here, 25th Aug, as we hear the cull is to go-ahead.

As regular blog readers will know many of us have campaigned long against the ridiculous, cruel, unnecessary and potentially counter-productive cull of badgers. Well there is little official response and there is a rumour in some press that it seems increasingly likely that there will not be enough farmers signed up to cull in Gloucestershire....?

It is reported that quite a number of farmers have pulled out leaving less than the necessary 70% of the land signed up. Defra have denied any problems and have also remained quiet on the exact boundaries and the start dates. If not enough farmers sign up then a North Dorset cull zone has been prepared as a back-up. Already they have been having big public meetings there....

The HM Government e-petition, launched by coalition Team Badger, fronted by May, and signed by many individuals and organisations including loads in Glos received more than 263,000 signatures. It is the largest ever petition.

The cull was rumoured to start at the beginning of August - if it does go ahead, shooters expect to kill 80% of the badger quota in the first 3 days of the cull. I hope more will see sense that the proposed cull has no real scientific backing and look to solutions that can reduce the severe impact of Tb on cattle and farmers. For more on badgers click the tab below.

Have you signed petitions re badger cull?

At the Stroud Life fifth birthday party recently I met a woman who was keen to publicise what's going on re badger cull and the evidence against it.  She has gathered together articles on a blog page with links to e petitions in particular Brian Mays - I would urge folk to sign if you have not yet. The blog has a great title, 'Badgers in the Attic Stroud'!

http://weloveourbadgers.blogspot.co.uk/

Meeting Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner; hate crime, 20 mph and more

Talking crime at Scrutiny

Last Thursday was Strategic Scrutiny meeting at the Council. There were various reports re health updates, a 'lessons learned' report re the canal and more - but this blog is a brief look at Martin Surl's presentation to us and a couple of the questions I raised.

Interestingly what I didn't get a chance to say was that in 2011 Green County Councillor Sarah Lunnon sought in a motion to GCC to stop cuts to Emergency Services; the debate was guillotined - the main opposition to amendment seemed to be that Sarah was being political. Well she was - she was attempting to use the political process to protect our vital services.Martin has gained a 2% increase in the budget now so we hopefully wont see a big impact...

Anyway Martin outlined his approach and I welcomed lots of what he said like an emphasis on prevention of crime and his support for Restorative Justice and its aims to stop people re-offending. He listed 5 priorities; the first being about preventing crime, the second an emphasis on older people, third, young people becoming adults, the fourth about how we design spaces and last 'Safe & social driving'. You can see more here.

With limited time I noted the importance of building communities - stronger inclusive communities mean less crime, but also noted the under-reporting of Hate Crime in County particularly relating to incidents with people with disabilities. This needs to be taken seriously and I am not convinced the issue is understood.

Various other issues got raised during the evening - Martin assured us that he had the Minister's word that costs for policing the badger cull would come out of central government funds and not Gloucestershire. He aslo again stated the Police would be neutral - they were not there to support one side. He also noted he wanted to keep community policing like PCSOs.

The last issue I raised was around support for 20 mph - this is clearly a County Council issue but in the past Police have not been so supportive - it sounded like Martin was neutral on the issue.

I did of course mention that Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe ward could be the first in the County to have a ward-wide 20 mph. As regular blog readers will know since 2006 and indeed earlier many of us have been campaigning - reducing speeds has been repeatedly high on residents list of concerns when I knock on doors. In 2009 over 400 local residents signed a petition requesting lower speeds and both the Parish Plans called for slower speeds/20 mph limits. In a vote in Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish there was 83% in favour. We hope to get final confirmation very soon and the signs to go up this summer.

As I've said before and in my submission a few weeks ago regarding the Traffic Order:

30mph is just too fast for the mix of narrow roads, parked cars and limited or non-existent footpaths, especially for children, dog walkers and cyclists. 20 mph is safer. As you will know if you are driving at 30 mph and someone run's out three car lengths in front of you, you will hit them at 27mph; that is the equivalent to falling from the third floor of a building. At 20 mph you will stop just in time. On average five people lose their lives on roads in England and Wales every day, 63 sustain serious injuries and hundreds of others suffer other injuries.

20 mph is also about reinforcing positive aspects of our villages, reducing noise, discouraging through traffic and it has also been shown to lead to more people feeling safer to walk and cycle.

The idea of 20 limits over a wider area is about getting the message across that it is unacceptable to drive more than 20 mph in a residential area. Lancashire have adopted countywide 20 mph, while Portsmouth's 20 scheme has cut serious injuries and deaths by 22%. See my report to the County in 2010 on why we need 20 mph: http://ruscombegreen.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/20-why-we-need-it.html

As one of those who has long worked for 20 mph locally and over all residential areas, I fully support this move towards a 20 mph. It will not be the whole answer to slowing speeds but is part of the approach to make our communities safer and more pleasant. I hope that this Traffic Order is approved without delay.

Badgers: the Great Perturbation Fantasy

The blog title was the title of a letter by Martin Hancox (Ex-Government Badger TB Panel) to the press...he asked if I could publish on my blog....as someone who has long campaigned on this issue I am happy to support debate - click read more for the main part of it.

More on badgers...

Last week...leaves going going....

Well when this blog entry goes live I'll be deep in a Full Council meeting....this blog is a couple of letters that local campaigner Martin Hancox has written to local press. He asked it he could publish them on this blog - I've covered his views before about badgers and do think they are worth looking at in more detail....this is one of his colourful letters....

I seem to have upset many farmers/vets, by pointing out that the cattle TB Crisis, has nothing to do with Old Brock. Might I reply :

1.  Firstly, NO I  regard it as an insult to call me a scientist. I left the governments CONsultative panel, 1992, when they tried to con us into backing badger culls with a 41 % accurate Brocktest ; less use than tossing a coin, 50 % sensitivity, so, disgusted at whole sorry pseudoscience of Badger TB, I chucked out my assorted degree certificates. I'm a serious NATURALIST!  Completely, as a red herring, I believe i've spotted the first "wild" case ASH DIE back  in a coupla trees on  bend by Mounsey Flat, below Ashwick Manor, nr Dulverton, Exmoor National Park. AND incidentally have worked on farms, wildlife parks, wildfowl trust, and Durrell's Jersey Zoo.

2. I repeat, cattle are not catching TB from badgers .. it is a lung broncho-Pneumonia, caught from PROlonged exposure in poorly ventilated barns, via aerosol droplets (Remember Swine FLU) . One school study showed 130 hours of shared classes needed to pass on the bugs; like sharing an office with someone spluttering flu bugs about. Also just like other cattle pneumonias , whether they be viral : PI3, , RSV, IBR, BVD, .. bacterial  : Pasteurella, Mannheimia, Haemophilus .. or Mycoplasmal, the pleuropneumonias.

Francis 1947 classic on bovine TB, noted they dont get it until they enter the cowshed .. do NOT usually  get it from pasture contaminated with cattle urine & faeces (can have 38 million bacilli in 30 lbs of faeces /day).. unless fresh slurry  is spread without natural biodegradation/composting .
Incidentally cattle finally test clear after entering barns for winter, meet those terrible badgers at spring turnout , are riddled with TB within weeks .. IN FACT, TB caught from cows, takes 6-9 months to reach reactor stage .. so next test in autumn positive.  That is also why the famous perturbation effect is nonsense, not enough time from cull to first cattle test ,
as regards either the reactive or proactive culls.. Charles Godfray , and Prof Kings report too , noted biological implausibility !

3. So, the famous badger urine route .. 99 % drains straight into soil, the rest disinfected by UV in sunlight within 3 days, so a cow cannot possibly drink the necessary 3 cc, (300,000  bacilli /cc) with required  dose BY Ingestion of l million bacilli " ; (l bacilli by aerosol; is different !).

4. YES  Prof Krebs, DID find  overwhelming evidence of "  A LINK " ; BUT , he was very careful to state several times " IT IS NOT KNOWN IF, HOW, OR TO WHAT EXTENT, BADGERS MIGHT REALISTICALLY GIVE COWS TB" !  Prof Bourne, for the ISG, couldnt tell Lord Jeff Rooker how it is supposed to work either :- EFRA Committee  Report 2008.

DISGRACEFULLY BAD PSEUDOSCIENCE, the ISG assumed cows get TB from badgers, so culls might work or make things worse : pure nonsense.

sincerely,  M.Hancox, MA OXON

____________________________________________________________________________
Click on read more to see another letter

GCC on flue cleaning and badgers

Wow what a day yesterday - poor folk travelling - I gave up trying to get to Gloucester with 18 inches of water on the road at Tuffley, but this evening did manage to get to Cheltenham ....anyway I just got copied in this press notice after the Glos County Council  meeting and wanted to share:

• In response to questions from Cllr Sarah Lunnon (Green, Stroud East) the Waste Champion failed to assure council that the technology to clean the flue gas from the proposed EfW plant at Javelin Park will provide the cleanest emissions possible. Cllr Lunnon said “it is unsatisfactory that UBB have indicated that better flue cleaning technology exists but is not being proposed for Javelin Park but the Rubbish Champion indicates that the best available technology has been chosen. My suspicion is that it all comes down to cost and the extra energy requirement needed to provide cleaner emissions.  The HPA is investigating the Health Impacts of Incineration, why is Cllr Waddington in accepting this technology enabling the perception that he and the administration are contributing to the pollution load borne by those living or working downwind of Javelin Park”
   
• Gloucestershire Green Party is disappointed that at a meeting of the County Council the Tory position on the proposed free-running badger cull was an unpleasant mix of emotion and politics. Council failed to take the opportunity to change new tenancies which would prohibit culling on the associated county farms. “The Tories in debate declared their ignorance in regard to shooting badgers” stated Cllr Sarah Lunnon, Green, Stroud East “they should follow the science and help stop the proposed massacre of Gloucestershire’s iconic wildlife.”

Interestingly Badger culls which never happened are thought to have cost Gloucestershire Police a whopping £64,000.The force is claiming against the Government for planning security around controversial...

Caroline Lucas leads debate that defeats gov badger plans

After leading the debate in the Commons, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas gives her thoughts on the defeat of the government's plans to implement a badger cull:

The Government suffered an embarrassing defeat over its plans to cull badgers as MPs voted for the policy to be scrapped in a debate led by Green MP Caroline Lucas.

The Brighton Pavilion MP had tabled a motion calling on the Government to "stop the cull and implement a more sustainable and humane solution" of vaccinating against TB, and improved testing for the disease. MPs from all three main parties signed up to it, and a six-hour debate was granted by the Backbench Business Committee after more than 160,000 people (incl myself and many hundreds locally) put their names to an e-petition.

In the final non-binding vote yesterday, the majority of MPs backed the motion, with 147 voting for and only 28 against. Neil Carmichael our Stroud MP was one of those 28.

The Government confirmed last July that it would introduce a major cull of British badgers in an attempt to control the spread of bovine TB in cattle – despite a weight of scientific evidence exposing the method as ineffective. It announced on Tuesday that it planned to delay the cull pilot until 2013.

Caroline Lucas MP said: "This is a fantastic result for all of those who have campaigned tirelessly against the Government’s ill-judged, unscientific and deeply unpopular badger cull policy. Bovine TB is an incredibly serious problem which causes real hardship and distress for farmers, so it’s crucial that Ministers put in place the most effective evidence-based policy to tackle it. Scientists are queuing up to state categorically that badger culling is not the solution. We don't need any more trials or pilots when such a wealth of evidence already exists.

“The message to the Government from MPs and from the public is now clear:  a postponement of the badger cull isn’t enough – this discredited policy must be stopped for good. Rather than cruel and ineffective mass culling, restrictions on cattle movement and contact between badgers and cattle should be given high priority, in addition to far greater efforts to introduce a vaccination programme and improve testing.” 

Speaking in the debate, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said it was "completely essential" the Government continued with the cull. He told MPs he had "every intention that these culls go ahead. There will be time to prepare, there will be no hitches next year, we shall deliver this policy.”

A number of news outlets reported that the minister later walked out of the debate before time, exclaiming ‘I can’t stand any more of this’. See Caroline's comments here.

Badgers: what a mistake govt are making

Photo sent to be by local constituent of Wallbridge graffiti

Regular blog readers will know locally we have campaigned lots to stop a cull of badgers - nationally too the Green Party have strongly opposed the new badger-cull pilots on the basis of the scientific evidence and significant animal-welfare, public-safety and ethical concerns.

I have to say I've barely been able to write on this topic for sometime - there have been various petitions and more calling on the government to not go down this crazy route but they haven't listened....this is just senseless. I understand farmers distress about TB - indeed have spoken to a number - and vets - TB is a real problem that can devastate farms and livelihoods. However this culling completely disregards the facts and ethical considerations.  The current plan is a dangerous one.

Another pic of graffit

The RBCT report concluded that substantial reductions in the incidence of TB in cattle could be achieved by improving cattle-based control measures.  These measures must be the focus of funding and research, not another culling ‘trial’. Greens and Labour put a motion to Stroud District Council saying no cull on our lands - it was passed - the Forest of Dean have recently followed suit - yet the first licence issued was for Gloucestershire. Bah!

As Caroline Allen Green party spokesperson said: "Whilst the Government has pledged that it will take measures to ensure the cull is carried out humanely and with high regard to animal welfare, the anatomy of the badger means that the method chosen - free shooting - is simply not appropriate, since it carries a very high risk of leaving badgers wounded and in pain.  In addition there is a risk to people of injury and even death from the use of firearms at night to carry out the cull."

Me dressed as a badger in campaign

Caroline added, "Even if there were a better chance of success I don’t believe it is ethically right to be attempting almost to clear an indigenous species from large tracts of our countryside.  Sadly the badger has become the scapegoat for this disease.  I call on the Government and Defra to wake up and show some leadership and deal with other aspects of disease transmission, including cattle-to-cattle transmission.  Then we may start to make some progress against this disease and the distress it causes to farmers and their herds."

My film re Glos Wildlife Trust's play to save water voles!

Glos Wildlife Trust presents….The Wind in the Willows by the Dreamshed Theatre Company @ Stroud Festival of Nature, Stratford Park, 8th Sept 2012. This film has some of the highlights of the 45 minute long play plus some interviews. See: http://stroudcommunity.tv/save-the-water-vole-glos-wildlife-trust-presents-the-wind-in-the-willows/

Diary date: Badgers meetings 25th May and 2nd June

View from Selsey across to Ruscombe

A wee while ago we had the District Council meeting where along with many others I spoke against badger culling - the motion was passed - see more details here. Well coming up are two public meetings - see details below:

The next Coffee House Discussion, complete with coffee (of course!), all kinds of other drinks and scrumptious cakes, is at Star Anise cafe in Stroud, (behind the Old Painswick Inn, Gloucester St.), on Friday, May 25th from 7.30-9.30 pm. The debate will have representation from scientists and farmers; 'TB and Badgers'. Free admission as always.

• How are farmers affected by TB in their herds?
• What does the science tell us about TB transmission and the likely effect of a cull?
• What are the alternatives to a cull?
• What are the Government’s plans?
 
The other meeting will be:

STOP THE COALITION GOVERNMENT KILLING BADGERS

SATURDAY 2 JUNE 2012 1030-1230 at THE OLD TOWN HALL, STROUD

SPEAKERS: Dr Chris Cheeseman, Cllr David Drew, Tony Dean, Gloucestershire Badger Group, Stroud 100 group. Free admission.

Stroud District Council say no to badger culling on their land

The motion about incinerator was unanimously passed this evening - see my blog here. It is far too late but I'm blogging to unwind before sleep!? There were other motions that squeezed through successfully to improve our democratic process but this blog is on badgers...

There was a Labour/Green motion to prevent badger culls in Stroud District - and to sign up to the Stroud 100 (see link at end of previous blog here).


Well there was an hour debate and I have to say that on the whole it was of a very high quality and well informed - by the time it came to my turn many had said already alot of the factual stuff....I did start with noting that in 2005/6 I was part of a SW Green party group looking into the issue of badgers and Tb. I then met farmers and vets who had considerable experience of Bovine Tb and not for one moment should we underestimate the impact it has on farming. Indeed during the evening a couple of farmers spoke about their own and others experiences.

At that time I had an open mind as to how Tb should be tackled but the more I looked into it the more I discovered how little we knew despite many many years of research. I was shocked by the misinformation on both sides of the debate – there is just not the evidence to take the drastic step of a cull. Indeed the evidence is that it could lead to a worsening of the situation with both badgers and cattle dying. A cull is not cost-effective or humane.
 
Anyway I supported the motion that was carried - largely due to a fair number of people abstaining. I didn't even get the chance to mention that five years ago I climbed into a very uncomfortable and heavy badger outfit to help collect support against a cull - indeed am sure you could find lots on that by clicking on the badger label below and scrolling through older posts.


The bad news is that farmers still have a nightmare to contend with - but the good news on this front nationally is the Judicial Review being called by the Badger Trust which seeks to overturn the decision to allow culling. Indeed I am hoping I do not need again to climb into the badger outfit! In the judicial review, the Badger Trust will argue for Defra's decision to be overturned based on three grounds:

1. Defra projections that the incidence of TB could be reduced by 12-16% over nine years. The Protection of Badgers Act says licences to kill can be granted for "preventing the spread of disease" - and the trust argues that the slow-down in the rate of increase, or "reduction in new incidence", projected by Defra does not qualify as "prevention".

2. Government plans for trials to involve "free shooting" of badgers in pilot areas is likely to be ineffective or a hazard to public safety. It says that, after the pilots, farmers may be forced to trap badgers before shooting them which it says could be 10 times more expensive than free shooting. No country in the world where wildlife carries TB has eradicated the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too” Defra  This, it says, would damage the government's economic case.

3. Guidance given to government agency Natural England - which Defra has tasked with issuing culling licences - is unlawful.

See Guardian article with more here.

Badger culls are mistake

Me in badger outfit!

So now we know two badger culls will take place this August - one in Tewkesbury and the other near Taunton. The government claim these will be followed by another ten new 'cull zones' every year. This is a complete nonsense - as this blog has pointed out there is no scientific case for the cull - even Professor John Krebs says that he "can't understand how anybody who's looked at the science would say this is a good idea." In the trials conducted under Kreb in 1997 they found that badger culling often made the situation worse by disrupting badger colonies and causing further spread of TB.


Local to Stroud there is currently a vaccination trial of badgers and there is also, as pointed out, evidence to suggest it is cattle that give badgers the TB, not the other way around (see also here).....indeed in the UK cattle outnumber badgers by about 40 to 1. Even if all badgers were killed in these culls it is unlikely to effect rates of TB. The Isle of Man has no badgers yet it does have bTB, while Scotland - which has badgers and hasn't culled any - has no bTB. An astonishing 30,000 cattle are prematurely killed each year after testing positive for TB, a further 75,000 are slaughtered for not being 'in calf', 7,000 because they are low yield, 120,000 because they are infertile and 3 million slaughtered for meat.

The vaccine might help with Tb but most of all we need to bring back the strict regulations regarding movement of cattle - or go vegan as a friend said.

Lib Dem Cheltenham Councillor Klara Sudbury has also been making the case for not culling badgers - see here blog here. Locally there is also a campaign, Stroud 100, to get local landowners and county councillors signed up to refusing to cull badgers - see here.

Update: Stroud 100 blogspot is at:
http://stroud100.blogspot.com/2012/01/join-stroud-100-and-help-stop-proposed.html

Badger Trust public meeting to discuss the potential badger cull

Me as a badger in Stroud High Street

Saturday 17th September 2011 10am - 12.30pm Old Town Hall, Stroud, Gloucestershire. Public meeting with David Drew and Dr. Chris. Cheeseman. See Guest Blogger Martin Hancox earlier this year on my blog here.

Badger petition

There are now some 20 petitions regarding badgers on the government's new petition site but I understand this one was one of the first. It is now hard to know which one to sign when we have little time to check them out.....This link was sent to me by a local person so I've signed that: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1904

Photo: Pic of campaign some years ago with me in that badger outfit

As regular blog readers will know a badger vaccine is being trialled near Stroud - the only trial in the country -for more on this issue please click on the label.

Hope for badgers?

The government's planned badger cull may not now happen. The BBC report that in an interview for the Politics Show South West, minister Jim Paice said there was a "question-mark at this moment" over a cull. The government confirmed that a decision was still due to be made. So there is still a chance they will see sense - see previous blogs on this topic by clicking the label below.

Copyright photo: Badger by Tony Evans Nature Picture Library reproduced with permission from Stop War on Badgers

Guest Blog: Badgers irrelevant to cattle TB

Badgers are completely irrelevant to solving cattle TB - that is the conclusion of local badger expert Martin Hancox. His views have been covered in this blog previously and as regular blog readers will know I have been very involved in the campaigns to stop the badger culls. The evidence is just not there to warrant such culls. Anyhow below is Martin's latest piece - but also today is the day that the Glos Badger Group are helping with Badger Day at the British School (behind Star Anise) from 10am with former MP David Drew - and also Caroline's letter to the Guardian below. Click read more.

Pic: campaign in 2006 with me dressed as the badger