The next SHFoE meeting will in Totnes on February 10th 2014 at 7.30.
Contact Stephen for venue or more info: (01803) 862123
The next SHFoE meeting will in Totnes on February 10th 2014 at 7.30.
Contact Stephen for venue or more info: (01803) 862123
Public Meeting
Buckfastleigh Town Hall
Wednesday 15th January 7.30pm
For those who are not aware, over Christmas Gilpin Demolition submitted a new planning application to Teignbridge District Council. The application Reference is: 13/03520/MAJ
The link on the Teignbridge site is:
http://gis.teignbridge.gov.uk/TeignbridgePlanningOnline/Results.aspx?Type=Application&Refval=13%2F03520%2FMA
The exact nature of the proposed activities is unclear at present and we have very little time to object – Teignbridge has informed us that the closing date for objection is the 17th January, so we are having a public meeting to discuss what we know about the plan and we will also be having a letter writing session on the night. Please come along – this is really important and we have very little time to act.
Our concern is that Gilpin is planning to industrialise the site – effectively by the back door. In submitting the plan to Teignbridge it will not have the same level of scrutiny that we saw at the Public Inquiry, so it is up us to find out as much as possible about the plan and about what we can do to object. We are already working hard on this, but we need your help in writing letters as the more that are sent, the stronger impression it will make on Teignbridge.
Please come…
and tell all your friends and forward this email to friends and relatives who live in and around the town.
Best wishes
Julia Wilton – co-chair
Buckfastleigh Community Forum
The MVV/Gilpin appeal was refused by the planning inspector!
It’s a victory for environmental justice and community action.
Congratulations to all who worked so hard for this.
Here’s a ink to an article by George Monbiot on neonicotinoids
http://www.monbiot.com/2013/08/13/ddt-2-0/
There’s a list of products containing neonicotinoids on the bee page
You can download the latest edition of change your world magazine here: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/newsletters/cyw_98_apr_may_2013.pdf
FoE Document on reviving Bistish Bees – why we need a National Action Plan
From the Pesticide Action Network – link at the bottom of the page.
Neonicotinoid based pesticides have been implicated in the alarming deaths of bees and other pollinators that are so crucial to pollination and biodiversity in the UK as a whole. It is not just agricultural products that they are used in but also a number of products aimed at the domestic home and garden market. The following is a list of products currently approved for use in the UK that may be available to purchase by the general public.
UK Home and garden products that contain neonicotinoid pesticides
Product Name
|
Manufacturer
|
Active Ingredient
|
Bug Free Extra
|
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Imidacloprid
|
Provado Lawn Grub Killer |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Imidacloprid
|
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Imidacloprid
|
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer Concentrate |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Imidacloprid
|
Provado Vine Weevil Killer |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Imidacloprid
|
Valiant |
Sherriff Amenity
|
Imidacloprid
|
Bug Attack Granules |
Westland Horticulture Limited
|
Thiamethoxam
|
Bug Attack Quick Sticks |
Westland Horticulture Limited
|
Thiamethoxam
|
Bug Attack Ready to Use |
Westland Horticulture Limited
|
Abamectin and thiamethoxam
|
Westland Plant Rescue Bug Killer Concentrate Ornamentals Plants |
Westland Horticulture Limited
|
Thiamethoxam
|
Westland Plant Rescue Bug Killer Ornamentals Plants |
Westland Horticulture Limited
|
Abamectin and thiamethoxam
|
Baby Bio House Plant Insecticide |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Thiacloprid
|
Multirose Bug Killer |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Thiacloprid
|
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer 2 |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Methiocarb and Thiacloprid
|
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer Concentrate 2 |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Thiacloprid
|
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer Ready to Use |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Thiacloprid
|
Provado Vine Weevil Killer 2 |
Bayer CropScience Ltd
|
Thiacloprid
|
Bugclear Ultra |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
BugClear Ultra |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
BugClear Ultra for Pots |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
BugClear Ultra for Pots Ready to Use |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
BugClear Ultra Gun! |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
Bugclear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
Bugclear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
RoseClear for Bugs |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
Roseclear Ultra |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
Roseclear Ultra GUN! |
The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
|
Acetamiprid
|
http://www.pan-uk.org/home-garden/list-of-home-and-garden-pesticides-containing-neonicotinoids
The next SHFoE meeting will be Tuesday 30th April 7.30pm at Stephen’s House. We’ll be talking about bees.
Extract from The Guardian 15/3/13
“A European attempt to ban the world’s most widely used insecticides that have been linked to serious harm in bees has failed.
The European commission proposed a two-year suspension of neonicotinoids after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) deemed their use an unacceptable risk, but major nations including UK and Germany failed to back the plan in a vote on Friday.
The result leaves environmental campaigners, scientists and some politicians bitterly disappointed.
“Britain and Germany have caved in to the industry lobby and refused to ban bee-killing pesticides,” said Iain Keith, at campaign group Avaaz. “Today’s vote flies in the face of science and public opinion and maintains the disastrous chemical armageddon on bees, which are critical for the future of our food.”
The chemical companies that dominate the billion-dollar neonicotinoid market, Bayer and Syngenta, were relieved. Syngenta chief operating officer, John Atkin, said: “We are pleased member states did not support the EC’s shamefully political proposal. Restricting the use of this vital crop protection technology will do nothing to help improve bee health.”
A Bayer spokesman, describing the company as a “responsible corporate citizen” said: “The EC has relied too heavily on the precautionary principle, without taking the principle of proportionality into account.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defended the UK’s abstention: “Bee health is extremely important but decisions must be based on sound scientific evidence and rushing this through could have serious unintended consequences both for bees and for food production. We are not opposing the EU’s proposals. But as we do not have the evidence yet it is impossible for us to vote either way.”
But Prof Dave Goulson, at the University of Stirling and who led one of the key studies showing that neonicotinoids harm bumblebees, told the Guardian: “The independent experts at EFSA spent six months studying all the evidence before concluding there was an unacceptable risk to bees. EFSA and almost everybody else – apart from the manufacturers – agree this class of pesticides were not adequately evaluated in the first place. Yet politicians choose to ignore all of this.”
About three-quarters of global food crops rely on bees and other insects to fertilise their flowers, so the decline of honeybee colonies due to disease, habitat loss and pesticide harm has prompted serious concern.
Conservationists argue that the harm resulting from the loss of bees and the vital pollination service they provide outweighs any farming losses. Almost three-quarters of the UK public backed the proposed ban, according to a poll released on Wednesday, and Avaaz had amassed 2.5m signatures across Europe in support.
The EC proposal was to ban the use of three neonicotinoids from use on corn, oil seed rape, apples, carrots, strawberries and many other flowering crops across the continent for two years, after which the situation would be reviewed.”
read the rest at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/15/bee-harming-pesticides-escape-european-ban