Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare
Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare
Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare
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DRAINAGE<br />
Draining and Gravel Banding<br />
also Vertidraining, Hollow Coring,<br />
Overseeding, Field Top Maker,<br />
Deep Scarifying<br />
Mobile: 07860 259692<br />
Tel: 01284 735105<br />
Email: peter@buryturfcare.com<br />
www.buryturfcare.com<br />
Philip Dixon Contractors Ltd<br />
Established 1978<br />
Sportsturf Drainage Specialist<br />
Drainage Construction Renovation<br />
Slitting Banding Maintenance<br />
Tel 01772 877289 (Preston, Lancs)<br />
Email: info@dixondrainage.co.uk<br />
www.dixondrainage.co.uk<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
Appley Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire WN6 9DT<br />
<br />
t 01257 255321<br />
<br />
e<br />
<br />
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142<br />
To advertise in t<strong>his</strong> section contact<br />
Classifieds<br />
Peter Britton on 01747 855335<br />
email: peter@pitchcare.com<br />
Miles Drainage Limited<br />
Quality Land Drainage Systems for Sports<br />
Pitches, Golf Courses and other Amenity<br />
Areas<br />
•Advice, design and installation<br />
•Piped systems •Sand Slitting<br />
•Gravel Banding<br />
Tel: 01359 259424 Fax: 01359 258073<br />
Web: www.milesdrainage.co.uk<br />
Email: trenchers@milesdrainage.co.uk<br />
Traditional<br />
drainage and<br />
Lytag banding<br />
of greens and fairways<br />
Tel: 01785 812706<br />
E: NSIrrigation@aol.com<br />
www.northstaffsirrigation.co.uk<br />
DRAIN TODAY - PLAY TOMORROW<br />
Phone: 01507 578288<br />
Fax: 01507 578790<br />
info@sheltonsdrainage.com<br />
www.sheltonsdrainage.com<br />
Machine sales<br />
Hire and contracting services<br />
www.pitchcare.com<br />
To subscribe to <strong>Pitchcare</strong> magazine<br />
log on to www.pitchcare.com or<br />
telephone 01902 440 252<br />
Badgers<br />
THE TALES OF<br />
MR BADGER...<br />
Andy Beddoes offers some advice on badgers<br />
and what can and cannot to be done to<br />
control them<br />
Along with many other native<br />
British wildlife, authors such<br />
as Beatrice Potter and<br />
Kenneth Graham have humanised<br />
and romaticised the European<br />
badger, and it is now confirmed as<br />
one of the ‘good guys’ in children’s<br />
books and folklore. That’s, of<br />
course, if they are not doing<br />
damage to your sports surfaces.<br />
The European badger (Meles<br />
meles), or Brocks, as they are<br />
often referred to, have complete<br />
protection under both the<br />
European Bern Convention of<br />
1979 and the UK’s 1992<br />
Protection of Badgers Act. Be<br />
aware of t<strong>his</strong>, as even removing<br />
nettles from around a sett could<br />
cause you to face prosecution.<br />
However, both of these<br />
documents allow for exemptions<br />
“to prevent serious damage to<br />
crops, livestock, forests, fisheries,<br />
water and other forms of<br />
property”, provided “there is no<br />
other satisfactory solution and that<br />
the exception will not be<br />
detrimental to the survival of the<br />
(wildlife) population concerned”.<br />
In addition, the UK’s Animal<br />
Health Act of 1981 sets out<br />
conditions under which a<br />
designated government minister<br />
can order a cull.<br />
The minister must be satisfied<br />
that a wildlife species is acting as<br />
a reservoir of an animal disease,<br />
and “that destruction of wild<br />
members of that or those species<br />
in that area is necessary in order<br />
to eliminate, or substantially<br />
reduce the incidence of, that<br />
disease in animals of any kind in<br />
the area”, then he or she may “by<br />
order, provide for the destruction<br />
of wild members of that or those<br />
species in that area”. Simple!<br />
A controversial cull of around<br />
1,500 badgers in south-west<br />
Wales has been halted after<br />
protesters won their legal<br />
challenge to stop it.<br />
The Badger Trust appealed<br />
against Welsh Assembly<br />
Government plans for a trial cull to<br />
reduce TB within cattle. The trust<br />
had questioned the cull’s<br />
effectiveness, though farmers<br />
losing diseased stock wanted<br />
action.<br />
The assembly government said<br />
it was “disappointed” with the<br />
Court of Appeal’s judgement.<br />
Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones<br />
said she would need to consider<br />
the judges’ decision in detail<br />
before deciding the next steps.<br />
The Badger Trust has<br />
consistently argued that the cull<br />
plan wasn’t backed by science.<br />
What was clarified during the<br />
Appeal Court hearing was that a<br />
9% reduction in cattle TB was all<br />
the government was expecting.<br />
Two of the three judges said t<strong>his</strong><br />
didn’t amount to a “substantial”<br />
reduction in disease - and that’s<br />
what’s required in law to kill<br />
badgers.<br />
Farmers say they’re<br />
disappointed, but there is still a<br />
package of other TB control<br />
measures in place.<br />
One consequence could be an<br />
increase in the extent to which<br />
farmers quietly (and illegally)<br />
dispose of badgers on their land.<br />
But, if there’s one clear<br />
message emerging from the<br />
science, it’s that scattergun killing<br />
will make things worse.<br />
Systematic killing might have<br />
made things better - but only<br />
slightly.<br />
Why was it planned?<br />
Infection through contact with<br />
badgers is one of the main routes<br />
by which cattle contract bovine<br />
tuberculosis (though nationally,<br />
cattle-to-cattle transmission is<br />
more significant).<br />
T<strong>his</strong> debilitating disease is
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