Council bans release of all balloons on its land
IT SAYS THEY KILL LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE THAT EAT THEM
BALLOON releases have been banned on all council-owned land because the authority says they are killing livestock and wildlife.
South Derbyshire District Council has become the first authority in Derbyshire to impose the ban following an unanimous agreement by councillors last week.
The district council already bans the release of Chinese lanterns on its land.
It means anyone caught releasing foil and plastic balloons on prohibited land could be hit with a fine, and comes as one farmer detailed the moment her sheep choked to death after eating a balloon which had landed in a field.
Balloons can often by released in large groups as friends and family gather to remember a loved-one who has died or for other events.
The call was brought before the council’s environmental and development services committee on Thursday, November 10, by the farmer and South Derbyshire councillor Amy Wheelton, who serves as an Independent councillor representing the Seales ward.
Councillor Wheelton told the Burton Mail: “I do not know of any farmer who has not lost an animal by chewing a balloon. They choke to death. It is a slow and painful death and at the time you don’t know why it is happening.
“The balloons can land in the crops and a combine harvester combines them and they are shredded into the straw which we then feed the cattle. It is like feeding them poison. I don’t want to take away people’s fun, but they could think about planting a
A combine harvester combines them and they are shredded into the straw which we then feed the cattle.
Cllr Amy Wheelton
tree, for example.
“We have balloons wrapped round trees in the fields and stuck in hedges. They don’t degrade, they can be there for years. It kills wildlife, it kills animals and it is littering.” Councillor Wheelton decided to bring the matter to the committee after receiving a leaflet from East Midlands Airport detailing its ban on balloons which damage aircraft engines and cause them to divert from their flightpath to avoid them. Foil balloons can also interfere with radar and navigation systems.
She said news that the committee agreed to the ban was “fabulous”, adding: “We can now encourage parish councils to ban releases on their land and inform event organisers of the ban.
“We are really starting to lead on biodiversity and I am absolutely passionate about the environment. It is about taking people on that journey and making them think [about the consequences].”
The committee heard that across the UK, 50 councils (33 in England) have already banned the release of balloons.
The report to the committee concluded: “The council will include appropriate provisions within any new tenancy agreements, leases, licences of its land and premises.
“While the ban relates solely to council-owned land and premises, the council will promote the awareness of the potential harm of balloon and sky lantern releases.”
The Forestry Commission is actively considering a similar ban. A restriction has already been incorporated into its lease of The Glade at Rosliston Forestry Centre, which is on Forestry Commission land.