Call to ban badger cull on Surrey County Council land

Liberal Democrat County Councillor Will Forster (Woking South) is calling for a ban stopping any culling of badgers on Surrey County Council land.

A motion proposed by Cllr Forster to Surrey County Council's Full Council tomorrow says:

Noting the start of the badger cull in Somerset and Gloucestershire and the possibility that DEFRA may roll out the badger cull across the rest of the UK, Council agrees not to allow the badger cull to take place on any of its county owned land, given that the science is not proven nor conclusive that a cull of badgers is the answer to eradicating Bovine TB from the countryside.

Council agrees that more research should be undertaken by Government and the scientific community to find more effective and cheaper vaccinations for badgers and cattle to help eradicate this disease from the countryside.

Will Forster says: "This follows a similar ban by Hampshire County Council, supported by all political groups. We all want to see a real solution to prevent the spread of Bovine TB across our countryside, but it is not right that badgers should be singled out in this way. To make matters worse, taxpayers are being made to pay for the slaughtering of native species when the evidence in favour of the cull is shaky and inconclusive. We must protect our countryside, and that includes the species that make it their home."