Originally from: Molly Maxwell
                        
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Originally from: "Ananova" <533...>
To: Molly Maxwell <...>
Subject: Teacher loses bid to prevent beacons sheep cull – Ananova Alerting Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:34:02 GMT

A teacher has vowed to fight on after the High Court rejected her bid to bring a legal challenge over the cull of healthy animals during the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Janet Hughes, of Montgomery, Powys, was refused permission by Mr Justice Stanley Burnton to bring a judicial review over the policy.

Miss Hughes, a teacher of environmental science, has recently bought 10 hefted sheep which graze at Talybont-on-Usk. Hefted sheep graze on the hillside without enclosure and know their own territory which is passed down from generation to generation.

Her counsel, Guy Adams, said the cull of hefted sheep – 6,000 healthy beasts have already been slaughtered – would have serious environmental consequences for the Beacons.

The chairman and chief executive of the area's national park had said that it would have a "disastrous effect" on traditional land management in the area with widespread social and economic effects.

But the judge rejected the application for the decision by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Assembly over the cull to be quashed or declared unlawful on the basis it was irrational.

He said while he had every sympathy with Miss Hughes and for others who were concerned over what had happened, her action could not continue as it had "no real prospect of success".

"I remind myself that it's not for this court, which is exercising a review function, to decide whether the decision made in the present context, informed by science and concerning the livelihoods of many people, was right or wrong.

After the case, Miss Hughes, who has launched an appeal fund called Save Our Sheep to meet legal costs which have been estimated at £25,000, said: "I'm not giving up – it's too important."

*Foot-and-mouth – All stories story sent by Ananova

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