Commonsense ruling for pesticides spraying appeal

The NFU has said it is pleased commonsense has prevailed after Defra won its appeal against the judgment handed down last November in the case bought by Georgina Downs over pesticides spraying.

The ruling overturns the original High Court judgment, which said Government had failed to comply with its obligations under a European Directive to protect resident and bystanders from possible harmful exposure to pesticides during crop spraying. .

NFU President Peter Kendall said: "This outcome is a victory for commonsense. The regulations governing pesticides and spraying are already very strict and any additional regulation would add further unnecessary burdens on farmers. A pilot project carried out for the Government pesticide regulator CRD showed that most people have no objections what-so-ever to the current approach.

"However we do recognise the concerns of a few people. We have already produced the Good Neighbour Initiative and the NFU is currently consulting with its members on how this could be extended via a voluntary neighbour re-assurance scheme for residents living near a farm.

"We will now read the full judgment closely and consider the implications for farmers’ pesticide management and wait to hear Defra’s response to this verdict."