Health written question – answered am ar 28 Ebrill 2009.
Dai Davies
Annibynnol, Blaenau Gwent
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many farms now have restrictions on land use as a result of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident in April 1986; what area of land is affected; and what evaluation he has made of the effect on the rural economy of these restrictions.
Dawn Primarolo
Minister of State (Department of Health) (Public Health)
We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that restrictions on land use as a result of the Chernobyl accident relate to sheep farming only. There are 369 farms, or part farms, and approximately 190,000 sheep within the restricted areas of England, Scotland and Wales. This represents a reduction of over 95 per cent. since 1986, when approximately 9,700 farms and 4,225,000 sheep were under restriction across the United Kingdom. All restrictions in Northern Ireland were lifted in 2000.
The Food Standards Agency has not evaluated the effect of these restrictions on the rural economy.
| Number of farms under restriction | Approximate number of sheep | Approximate land area (hectare) | |
| Wales | 355 | 180,000 | 53,000 |
| England | 9 | 7,000 | 12,000 |
| Scotland | 5 | 3,000 | 7,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 369 | 190,000 | 72,000 |
Yes1 person thinks so
No7 people think not
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