DEBATE has raged over a cull on badgers being extended to South Gloucestershire, with Lib Dem councillors condemning the plans.

The initial motion to oppose the cull, put forward by Cllr Ruth Davis, was fierce debated last Wednesday during the full council meeting, with heated discussion on the pros, cons, and necessity of the action, which will be carried in parts of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire Council areas.

Cllr Matthew Riddle argued the importance of controlling the growing population of the animal with regards to preventing tuberculosis in both badgers and cattle, whether through culls or vaccinations, as well as the threat of the growing badger population on the rest of the wildlife, including hedgehogs.

He referred to TB ‘hot spots’, where more than 30 per cent of badgers are infected, and that badger culling can reduce TB in cattle quickly, with a vaccine being “some years away”.

Cllr Ben Stokes, who represents Boyd Valley said: “Bovine TB is a serious problem which has sent hundreds of thousands of cows to their deaths prematurely.

“The motion put forward by my Liberal Democrat colleagues is clearly well intended, but it fails to offer a pragmatic solution to the problem.

“We talk about imperatives, what greater imperative can there be than to help our own residents who are seeing their financial stability melt away because of a lack of action?”

The ruling Conservative group made an amendment to the motion that, rather than condemn the cull, called on environment secretary Michael Gove to press for the development of a TB vaccine for both cattle and badgers as an “absolute urgent priority”.

Cllr Davis said she was frustrated by the change in direction of the motion, with their call for the government to “rethink this cruel, costly, and ineffective policy”, backed the campaign by Avon Wildlife Trust and the RSPCA, being ignored.

She said: “After five years of badger culls, there is no scientific evidence that there has been a reduction in bovine TB in any of the initial pilot areas.”