The Government has confirmed plans to ban controlled heather burning on deep peat, despite acknowledging that the practice can help reduce the risk of wildfire.
In one of her first major decisions as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds has pressed ahead with this ban, ignoring the warnings from the National Fire Chiefs Council and the NFU that such a move could increase both the frequency and severity of wildfires.
The announcement came as communities in my constituency witnessed first-hand the dangers of unmanaged moorland, with devastating fires breaking out on Langdale Moor. I saw the impact myself — hundreds of firefighters and volunteers worked tirelessly for weeks to battle the flames, causing significant environmental damage and major disruption for local residents.
In response to the Government’s decision, I tabled a parliamentary question asking the new Secretary of State “what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the (a) ban on controlled heather burning on deep peat and (b) definition of deep peat on the risk of wildfires.”
Responding for the Government, Nature Minister Mary Creagh claimed that “evidence shows that burning is damaging to peatlands and can increase their long-term vulnerability to wildfires.”
I believe this decision is reckless, naïve and dangerous. Ministers have ignored the clear advice of firefighters, farmers and land managers who know first-hand how to manage our moorland safely.
It represents yet another direct attack on our rural way of life and one that could have catastrophic consequences for communities across North Yorkshire. Without managed burning, the Government risks being directly responsible for more devastating fires like the one we have just seen on Langdale Moor — fires which cost our communities dearly and put lives, livelihoods and landscapes at risk.
