To farmers, the use of pesticides on their crops has become an essential part of their job. To people living near open fields, they can be a potential health irritant – as exemplified by the plight of environmental campaigner Georgina Downs who championed this case.

Yet this case has exposed a clear legal ambiguity which needs to be resolved as it considers the repercussions of the ruling, and how this might impact upon farmers who already have their hands
tied on so many fronts.

For it does, at face value, seem perverse that beekeepers have to be given 48 hours notice, by law, if farmers intend to use potentially harmful pesticides near their hives, but that such a courtesy does not extend to individuals like Miss Downs who do not have to be notified of any spraying that might take place near their property.

It is too simplistic to suggest people like Miss Downs should not live near a farm if there is any prospect that their health might suffer. Like farmers, they have rights and the challenge now is to find a compromise which addresses the concerns of both sides.