Agriculture bill amendment prohibiting application of pesticides near human habitation

[AndrewM]

I see this amendment has been added to the agricultural bill. Will have to wait for a directive from the government on what the distance will be. Could affect quite a bit of land. Would this impact footpaths?, pony paddocks, ect

221: After Clause 34, insert the following new Clause—“Application of pesticides: limitations on use to protect human health(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision for prohibiting the application of any pesticide for the purposes of agriculture near—(a) any building used for human habitation;(b) any building or open space used for work or recreation; or(c) any public or private building where members of the public may be present including, but not limited to—(i) schools and childcare nurseries, and(ii) hospitals.(2) Regulations under this section must specify a minimum distance between any of the locations listed under subsection (1)(a) to (c) to be maintained during the application of any pesticide, and list any category of building or location.(3) For the purposes of this section “public building” includes any building used for the purposes of education.(4) Regulations under this section are subject to affirmative resolution procedure.”Member’s explanatory statementThis new clause would have the effect of protecting members of the public from hazardous health impacts from the application of chemical pesticides near buildings and spaces used by residents and members of the public.

 

[steveR]

Devil will be in the distance detail.... 6m buffer would be OK, but I suspect a lot further will be order of the day.

Why not sport and amenity spraying too?

 

[Clive]

define "near" ?

 

[spin cycle]

define "near" ?

as usual father ted can clear it up

 

[AndrewM]

Yes, that will be key, and up to the government/EA I suppose.
Hope for 4-5m thickness of a good hedge, if not, guess we will put it into some sort of elm scheme.

 

[steveR]

Yes, that will be key, and up to the government/EA I suppose.
Hope for 4-5m thickness of a good hedge, if not, guess we will put it into some sort of elm scheme.

More "buffer" strips!

 

[No wot]

Yes, that will be key, and up to the government/EA I suppose.
Hope for 4-5m thickness of a good hedge, if not, guess we will put it into some sort of elm scheme.

And the neighbor's will use it as their personal tip or extension of their garden

 

[robs1]

Well if they include public footpaths then I might as well pack up every field we grow crops in either have houses or paths in/next to them, some on more than one side, most have both, guess all the locals will be really pee'd off when I apply for solar panels on the whole farm.

 

[melted welly]

Great, more potential ammo for bellend neighbour

 

[johnb5555]

Its one of 25 pages of amendments put forward by the Lords

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/58-01/130/5801130-IV(Provisional).pdf

 

[Y Fan Wen]

The buffer zone for watercourses and Asulox is 90 metres.

 

[teslacoils]

Let's be honest, a field 6m away from houses / schools isn't going to be arable for that long anyway is it?

 

[Wombat]

The buffer zone for watercourses and Asulox is 90 metres.

Not sure what that is without a quick google but don’t think I have any land more than 90m from a water course. Maybe a couple of acres if you measure from field corners

 

[Chae1]

I generally shut off outside section 6m of sprayer when passing houses/gardens anyway. Not worth the hassle of killing someones garden with glyphosate or herbicide. Or dealing with residents claiming you poisoned them.

 

[Wombat]

I generally shut off outside section 6m of sprayer when passing houses/gardens anyway. Not worth the hassle of killing someones garden with glyphosate or herbicide. Or dealing with residents claiming you poisoned them.

We have a couple of fields with house on one side and I always try and spray if the breeze is coming from behind them. Also tend to go early morning so no one in gardens.

 

[clbarclay]

If it came to it, the thought of dealing with any buffer around rights of way crossing the middle of arable fields is just depressing.

6m margin isn't much if you want to eliminate all risk of exposure. Not all farmers are saints when it comes to only spraying in ideal conditions.

 

[Devil's advocate]

If this is footpaths very serious for me, at least half the farm.

Also if I leave a buffer strip, people always move from the footpath to walk on the crop, even if it is 20 metres.

 

[Devil's advocate]

We have a couple of fields with house on one side and I always try and spray if the breeze is coming from behind them. Also tend to go early morning so no one in gardens.

When spraying, I try to be invisible. Small tractor driven sensibly with low revs, try to start at dawn on the fields that can be seen by public. Stop if I see a walker or go to the other end of the field to work and not kill other peoples plants.

9.30 am on Monday morning is a good time to be invisible.

 

[Chae1]

We have a couple of fields with house on one side and I always try and spray if the breeze is coming from behind them. Also tend to go early morning so no one in gardens.

They quite often take pictures of me spraying. Don't think it's to put on there fridge.

 

[robs1]

They quite often take pictures of me spraying. Don't think it's to put on there fridge.

Perhaps they like your mankini