Georgina Downs has, by her persistence, tenacity and courage, achieved a land mark victory for the rights of citizens to be informed what sprays (agrochemicals - herbicides, fungicides and pesticides) are about to be used around their home.
Yesterday, a High Court judge ruled that Georgina Downs, who lives in a rural area outside Chichester, West Sussex, had produced "solid evidence" that residents had suffered harm from these chemicals. For too long has this very real and present danger in the countryside been ignored and belittled.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5158346.ece
http://www.warmwell.com/georginadowns.html
Mr Justice Collins said, in his ruling, that ". . . . 'defects' in Defra's approach to pesticide safety 'contravene the requirement' of a 1991 EC Directive that harmonises the regulation of 'plant protection products' and that Mr Benn 'must think again and consider what needs to be done' . . . .".
It is clear that the government has not taken its responsibilities to the common man seriously enough and has failed to comply with its obligations under a European Directive to protect rural residents and communities from possible harmful exposure to toxic substances during crop spraying. It is probably too much to expect the traditional resignations of those shown not to have acted correctly in office.
Information on pesticides has always been difficult to obtain, with companies even trying to keep safety data secret! - see this page from 2002:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/news/2002_may_may_15.html
This is not a game of who can beat the system but a serious matter of health and safety, not in work but in our homes, gardens and while going about our daily lives. Of course, we have also seen many dogs harmed by the cavalier approach to the use of agro-chemicals, while they have been out on walks in the countryside or in public parks and it is high time this whole area came under the microscope. Commercial interest cannot be allowed to take precedence over reason and safety although, all too often, that would appear to be what happens in our modern society.
Of course, those who farm organically and those who buy organic food are, as the Soil Association slogan goes, 'part of the soluion not part of the problem'. Chemical food is 'cheap food', at what cost?
Congratulations to Georgina Downs! Spare me from the so-called 'celebrities' - here's a real star.
[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]