Lobbying


The HTA working for its members Easter Sunday trading


Sundays during the rest of the year. HTA Director general Carol Paris commented, ‘The Sunday trading laws cause confusion for gardeners and garden centres alike. It is time for change and we will work with the Garden Centre Association and other stakeholders to influence government to amend this outdated and unnecessary legislation.’ She continued, ‘For many people


‘The existing Sunday


trading laws increasingly look out of place in an era of 24-hour internet trading’


The HTA continues to lobby government to change the Sunday trading laws that prevent garden centres from opening at all on Easter Sunday. Garden centres, with over 3000 square feet of selling


space, are subject to the Sunday Trading Act 1994 that prohibits large shops in England and Wales from opening on Easter Sunday; it also limits them to six hours’ trading on other


the weekend is the only time available both to garden and to shop for the garden, and the long Easter weekend is clearly a premium time for this. Furthermore, garden centres play important roles as leisure destinations and as a focus for families. More fundamentally, the existing laws increasingly look out of place in an era of 24-hour internet trading.’ Gary Scroby, HTA Policy manager


added, ‘In a paper submitted by the Institute of Directors to No 10 Downing Street, we recently cited the problem of Sunday trading restrictions as an example of barriers to economic growth. We have also urged Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to lift the restrictions as an easy way to provide the national economy with a significant boost.’


Ending imports of sweet chestnut


The HTA is calling for a government ban on the import of sweet chestnut trees into Britain in a bid to control the spread of the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (commonly known as sweet chestnut blight). Following the import of infected trees from France, the disease has been found on two UK sites (in Essex and Warwickshire) with the resulting destruction of 180 trees. Sweet chestnuts are grown commercially in Europe and the UK for the nut market. Worryingly, the infection has already had a fatal effect in eastern USA where an estimated 3.5 billion trees suffered dieback and death. The fungus enters through wounds in the bark and causes dieback and, eventually, the death of the tree. HTA Director of business development Tim Briercliffe


said, ‘The situation is different to ash dieback in that the disease is controlled within Europe through plant passporting and the UK is a “protected zone”. Despite these controls, the disease has been found in the UK in recent years. It doesn’t appear to be as aggressive as ash dieback, but in light of the fact that demand for sweet chestnut is likely to increase, the HTA would support a ban to prevent the disease spreading farther.’


14 HTAnews I May 2013 I www.the-hta.org.uk


Strict import controls are needed to protect the UK’s sweet chestnut trees


_For more information visit www.forestry.gov.uk and search for ‘sweet chestnut blight’


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28