Animal culling
Dear South Lakeland District Council,
This FoI is in relation to the culling of animals.
Please provide details on the following:
1) How many animal culls have been authorised, organised, or carried out by your organisation or on its behalf in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017? This includes activities labelled ‘management’ such as 'deer management' where hunting and culling is involved.
2) If they have been carried out, what animals were culled, what was the purpose, and how many were culled?
3) If they have been carried out, what is the process of deciding whether action is taken, and who would be consulted prior to this?
Yours faithfully,
Tom Little
Information Request
Thank you for your email. This is to acknowledge receipt of your
request. Your request will be handled by an officer who will respond
appropriately under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 as appropriate.
In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before I will proceed to deal with your request.
You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless
the Council does not hold the information or there is a reason for it to
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Whilst it is the Council policy to provide information wherever possible,
I need to advise you that there are a number of exemptions under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Exceptions under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004. These may prevent the Council from
releasing all or some of the information you have asked for. You will,
however, be informed if this is the case and we will explain why.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Mountford | Principal Performance & Intelligence Officer
South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street,
Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ
Tel: 01539 733333
Email: [1][South Lakeland District Council request email]
Website: [2]www.southlakeland.gov.uk
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[South Lakeland District Council request email]
2. http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/
Dear Tom
Regarding your FOI request, having spoken to colleagues we would like to request clarification of what types of animal are you interested in.
Do you want information on all animals, including insects and rodents, or solely larger mammals such as deer or rabbits etc?
Please note your request is on hold until I hear back from you.
Many thanks
Emma
Emma Nichols | Community Engagement Officer
South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ
Tel: 01539 733333 | Direct Tel: 01539 793268 | Email: [email address]
Website: www.southlakeland.gov.uk
South Lakeland District Council Making South Lakeland the best place to live, work and explore
Dear Nichols, Emma,
All types if that isn't too much hassle, cheers.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Little
Dear Tom,
I am writing in respect of your recent enquiry for information held by the
Council under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. You asked
the following:
1) How many animal culls have been authorised, organised, or carried
out by your organisation or on its behalf in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017?
This includes activities labelled ‘management’ such as 'deer management'
where hunting and culling is involved.
2) If they have been carried out, what animals were culled, what was
the purpose, and how many were culled?
3) If they have been carried out, what is the process of deciding
whether action is taken, and who would be consulted prior to this?
Following your request I asked for clarification on the types of animals
you would like to receive information on:
Regarding your FOI request, having spoken to colleagues we
would like to request clarification of what types of animal are you
interested in.
Do you want information on all animals, including insects and rodents, or
solely larger mammals such as deer or rabbits etc?
You responded with the following clarification:
All types if that isn't too much hassle, cheers.
I can confirm the following:
1) The Council does not carry out any animal culls directly, however
in 2016 Westmorland Red Squirrel Society culled 37 grey squirrels in
Yewbarrow Woods in Grange over Sands in 2016.
2) The culling is for the purpose of wildlife and red squirrel
conservation. The cull included areas not in SLDC ownership so we cannot
quantify how many of the 37 were within the 60% of Yewbarrow owned by SLDC
3) No official process, a case was presented by the red Squirrel
Society
The council also uses pest control contractors on council owned land and
buildings (the council does not offer a public pest control service), as
part of our property maintenance programme, please see the table below for
details of pest control:
Order Date Location Animal Description Quantity
17/01/2014 North Lonsdale Rats Bait site to Unknown
Road Depot remove rats
11/04/2014 Canal Head Rats Bait behind Unknown
Depot workshop to
remove rats
20/05/2014 Braithwaite Rabbits Removal of Unknown
Fold Caravan rabbits from
Site burrows in a
banking on
boundary of land
which was to be
dug
out/re-landscaped
(humane removal
to avoid
suffocation/death
from collapse of
the burrows)
28/07/2014 Parkside Road Wasps Remove wasps nest Unknown
Cemetery from slates/roof
of toilet
29/10/2014 28 Finkle St Rats Removal of rat Unknown
nest and pest
control
05/11/2014 North Lonsdale Wasps Remove wasps nest Unknown
Road Depot
24/04/2015 Ecclerigg Rats Lay bait in boxes Unknown
Depot to reduce rat
activity
30/10/2015 Grange Rodents Pest control of Unknown
Promenade/Café rodents
28/04/2016 Canal Head Rodents Annual pest Unknown
Depot control from May
2016-Apr 2017
19/09/2016 Town View Wasps Remove wasp nest Unknown
Fields Hostel from pumphouse
21/10/2016 Ferry Nab Wasps Destroy wasp nest Unknown
Boathouse
17/02/2017 Town View Rodents Pest control Unknown
Fields Hostel services Feb-Apr
2017
19/04/2017 Town View Rodents Pest control Unknown
Fields Hostel services May-Jul
2017
10/05/2017 Canal Head Rodents Pest control Unknown
Depot services May-Jul
2017
19/06/2017 Castle Hill Bees Bee activity Unknown
within a section
of collapsed
wall/banking.
Treatment of bees
with powdered
insecticide to
allow remainder
of wall to be
rebuilt
04/07/2017 Town View Wasps Removal of wasps Unknown
Fields Hostel nest from
external boundary
wall adjacent
playground
07/07/2017 Canal Head Rodents Pest control Unknown
Depot services Aug-Oct
2017
21/07/2017 Town View Rodents Pest control Unknown
Fields Hostel services Aug-Oct
2017
12/09/2017 Town View Wasps Removal of wasps Unknown
Fields Hostel nest from eaves
over boiler room
You are free to use any information supplied for your own personal use.
However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the
information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of
the copyright owner.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your FOI request, you have
the right to ask us to review our handling of your request. Any request
for an Internal Review must be made in writing within 40 days of this
response. Should you wish to request a review, please email
[1][South Lakeland District Council request email] or write to Paul Mountford, Principal
Performance and Intelligence Officer at the address below. Our Internal
Review Process is available on our [2]website.
Should you remain dissatisfied following our internal review, you can
refer the matter directly to the Information Commissioner.
Further information is available from the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
[3]www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Emma
Emma Nichols | Community Engagement Officer
South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street,
Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ
Tel: 01539 733333 | Direct Tel: 01539 793268 | Email:
[4][South Lakeland District Council request email]
Website: [5]www.southlakeland.gov.uk
South Lakeland District Council Making South Lakeland the best place to
live, work and explore
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[South Lakeland District Council request email]
2. https://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/media/1...
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
4. mailto:[South Lakeland District Council request email]
5. http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/
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