Welsh Assembly Government giving incorrect advice?

Let's hope the Welsh Assembly Government, known universally as the WAG, haven't made this mistake. The website of the magazine Smallholder is running a story about the WAG saying,

"The Welsh Assembly Government wishes to remind all landowner/occupiers, Local Authorities, Trunk Road Agencies and Network Rail that they have a statutory responsibility to prevent and control the spread of ragwort under the Weeds Act 1959. "

This is definitely incorrect. They are , like many public authorities, wrong about the Weeds Act. It most clearly doesn't place any automatic statutory duty on anyone!

The story hasn't turned up elsewhere so it may not have gone generally to the press. Even so if they have been putting out this falsehood I can think of some people who will be dogging the WAG about it!

The WAG has a legal responsibility to promote sustainability by putting out this misinformation they are encouraging people to destroy a valuable resource for biodiversity. What about the wildlife that depends on this native plant. What about the other misidentified plants that will be destroyed. As was documented recently.

Just in case there is any doubt about the law on ragwort , you can read the full text of The Weeds Act 1959

Are the hedgehogs affected?

There are some interesting comments on this Hedgehog forum. Someone is worried about the effects of a weedkiller sprayed for ragwort on hedgehogs. It is always difficult to be sure of these anecdotal cases but one thing we can be certain of ,less wildflowers, ragwort and others, means less insects and less food for the poor hedgehogs.
The panic over ragwort has general effects on biodiversity which we should keep aware of.

These misidentifications are far too common.

One of the big problems with all the undeserved panic about ragwort is that other wildflowers get targeted. We get gangs of workmen going out to clear road verges and all yellow plants are going to suffer. These guys are not botanists. Not of course that the evidence shows that ragwort seeds blow around much and that roadside plants are a risk.

Ragwort hysteria has spread to the Netherlands where this latest beauty complete with picture comes from. The article is of course Double Dutch to most people but it talks about the plant being a risk to children, which of course it isn't in any real terms at all.

This picture from the article isn't ragwort of course. It looks as if it is a hawksbeard or something similar.

Milton Keynes council also gets it wrong

Continuing the theme of Councils that get things wrong here is Milton Keynes Council

They say with relevance to ragwort:-
The Weeds Act 1959 requires that five specified weeds are controlled.

This is of course not true.The law on Ragwort is quite clear . It does not automatically require that ragwort is controlled. It just lets the government order people to control it when it is a problem.

The problem here, like many side effects of ragwort hysteria, is that other wildlife is also being harmed in the process of unnecessary ragwort control. A look around the council's website shows that they are using it as a justification for overmowing all roadside verges.

You can also find reference to this council's error here. Milton Keynes Council ragwort errors

Notifiable plants or weeds: There is no such thing in the UK

Local councils are often caught up in the panic about ragwort. There are many many errors. Eastbourne Council are a good example.

They have Ragwort listed as a "notifiable plant". This is a common error. Often it is "notifiable weed". One thing should be made clear. There is no such thing at all in UK law. There is no need to notify anyone about ragwort or any other plant being present anywhere. You are also not automatically required to control it. For the law on Ragwort you can see this previous posting The Law on ragwort: the legislation explained.

In Eastbourne council's case they compound the panic by claiming that ragwort would contaminate compost. This is a rather silly notion.

Ignorance and bigotry in the face of science

One of the problems encountered when trying to communicate the science of ragwort to the public is ignorance (In the sense of lacking of knowledge). Whenever you go on line and enter a forum you will find someone who is ignorant but just knows that they know it all better than you do.

One of these problems was recently encountered by a well known European expert on Ragwort, Esther Hegt from the Netherlands. A keen horsewoman, Esther runs one of the best websites in the world on the subject and it has an English language version Ragwort Myths and Facts. It is stuffed with facts and figures all gathered from a documented list of expert sources. Much of her most important information is co-authored by a leading ragwort scientist Dr Pieter Pelser who actually has a Phd on the plant!

The website contains a great deal of information for dispelling the panic over the plant and the panic originated in the UK which is why the English language section was developed. This Netherlands hosted site does not get well listed in UK search engines which is a great pity.

Unfortunately, when trying to explain things on-line she can get attacked and one vicious and bigoted example comes from the forum of our old friends Horse and Hound. A hotbed of "horsteria" over ragwort.

Trying to explain the facts to some people there this leading expert gets told "to take her ignorance back to France" ( which of course isn't even where she comes from!) The irony is of course it is the attacker who is not just ignorant but bigoted as well.

The law on ragwort : The legislation explained

One of the most common misconceptions about ragwort is that it is in some way illegal to grow it. It is most certainly not. The law relating to this is mainly the Weeds Act 1959 but also the misleadingly named Ragwort Control Act 2003.

The Weeds Act means that in rare cases you may be ordered to control ragwort but in the absence of any such order you have not duties or obligations what so ever.

Before the recent outburst of irrationality over ragwort the Weeds Act was never used at all.

The Ragwort Control Act? Well this does nothing much really only let the government produce a code of practice which could be used in court in the really rare cases ( probably non existent) where someone is prosecuted for not complying with a rare Weeds Act order.

See Ragwort the law explained.