Campaigners call to revoke Somerset peat extraction licence

The RSPB and Somerset Wildlife Trust have called on Government to work with campaigners to quickly find a way to revoke a peat extraction licence that is currently under a new review by Somerset County Council.

The licence, dating to the 1950s, gives permission to dig peat on land that borders the RSPB’s Nature Reserve at Ham Wall near Glastonbury.

Picture: Debi Ann Moss / Somerset Camera Club

A review of the licence, as required under law, was initiated by the licence holders in 2013. At the time it was not progressed due to technical issues. The review was brought back to Somerset County Council this year.

However, the Council’s hands are tied because, while they can suggest conditions to be attached to the licence as part of this review, they have no power to revoke the licence. This means that the peat could now be extracted as soon as the review is concluded.

Campaigners say this makes a mockery of the strong and welcome efforts being made by the Government to protect our vital peat resource in England.

Nick Bruce-White, RSPB Operations Director, Southern England, said: “We are in a nature and climate emergency. Peat is a vital carbon store and its value as such is now widely accepted, including in the Government’s own recently published England Peat Action Plan.

“We simply cannot accept that a permission to dig peat granted in the 1950s should be allowed to remain given the current emergency.

“The peat must be left in the ground. 

“But as it currently stands, peat, dug from land next to a National Nature Reserve could be in bags on sale in garden centres within months. Surely this isn’t right, especially as the Government is currently consulting on a ban on peat sales for the amateur garden market within two years.”

Somerset Wildlife Trust has raised the issue with Defra Minister and Somerset MP, Rebecca Pow.

Georgia Stokes, CEO of Somerset Wildlife Trust said: “Defra’s announcement of a consultation into the banning of peat compost sales is a welcome step but must happen quickly and be part of a wide range of measures to protect and restore our peatlands.

“Somerset has important peatlands on the Levels and Moors, including remnant mire. These are precious and threatened wildlife habitats, home to some amazing species such as bitterns and the insectivorous sundew, and store carbon in the wet peat soils.

“It takes 1,000 years to grow a metre of peat, so we can’t keep digging it up. We must make sure our peatlands are managed well by keeping the peat wet and in the ground, to protect them as important habitat and vital carbon stores essential for tackling the climate and ecological emergencies.”

Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow, said: “It is a government priority to phase out peat extraction and we are working at speed to phase out the use of peat in horticulture by the end of this parliament.

“As set out in the England Peat Action Plan, we will be consulting this summer on bringing forward a ban on the sale of peat and peat-containing products in horticulture.

"Through this, the demand for peat will be curtailed. Those who do have historic licences will face a diminishing market for peat but equally will have a real opportunity to be a major part of the solution to address climate change by ending extraction and moving to restore sites, with all the benefits for the environment and the economy which this can bring.

“We have already invested £2 million in research into different growing mediums, and we are working closely with industry."

A government spokesperson said: “The Government is committed to our England Peat Action Plan and the Nature for Climate Fund, which are key to taking decisive action to protect and restore this precious resource.

 “Whilst we cannot comment on specific planning applications, the Environment Act 1995 states that conditions for minerals sites need to be reviewed no earlier than 15 years after planning permission is granted or, in the case of an old permission, within 15 years of the date of the initial review. The purpose of the review is to help ensure that sites operate to continuously high working and environmental standards.”

Consultation on the permission is due to conclude on 29 June.