Originally from: Molly Maxwell
                        
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Originally from: "Ananova" <533...>
To: Molly Maxwell <...>
Subject: Public inquiry into Devon foot-and-mouth starts – Ananova Alerting Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 03:15:28 GMT

A public inquiry is starting into the foot-and-mouth crisis in Devon.

The five day hearing, which is to be broadcast live via the internet, is being organised by Devon County Council.

There were 173 cases of the disease confirmed in Devon during the outbreak and since the inquiry was announced on August 22, about 400 detailed submissions have been sent to its co-ordinating unit.

Chairman Professor Ian Mercer, 68, a leading authority on rural conservation and environmental issues, said a report would be sent to the Government by the end of October.

"We can provide them, sitting up there in whatever sterilised atmosphere they are in, with some reality – with the facts of what happened on the ground as the people in the countryside saw it," he said.

"We need to let the people of Devon get it off their chests."

There was bound to be "considerable opinion" about how things were handled at the outset.

"There is going to be, I imagine, considerable discussion about communications, how good or bad it was, and how it broke down within organisations and between organisations," he said.

The "constructive stuff" of the inquiry would be about the future and "what you do better next time".

The first evidence to be heard will be from the National Farmers' Union.

*Foot-and-mouth story sent by Ananova

See this story on the web at http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_417659.html

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