JUST three months after Assembly Members overwhelmingly backed the culling of badgers to help eradicate Bovine TB, the new Welsh Government has put the plans on hold while an independent review is carried out.

Wildlife campaigners have welcomed the news that the proposed cull in a specified area of north Pembrokeshire is to be postponed, while farmers’ unions have reacted angrily to the delay.

A motion to annul the Badger (Control Area) (Wales) Order 2011, brought about by AMs Peter Black, Irene James, Jenny Randerson and Lorraine Barrett was defeated by a large majority in March in the Assembly – a move that the Badger Trust labelled at the time as a “death sentence for badgers”.

Now an independent review, which is expected to be published in the autumn, will be carried out by a panel of experts appointed and overseen by chief scientific adviser, Professor John Harries.

Making the announcement, environment minister John Griffiths said: “Bovine TB is the subject of considerable debate. This is also true of the huge body of scientific research related to the disease.

“The eradication of bovine TB in Wales is a long term Welsh Government commitment. It will require the application of new technologies and scientific developments as they become available.”

However, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Cymru said it was “exasperated” by the decision, calling the review a “delaying tactic”.

Farmers’ Union of Wales vice-president Brian Walters added: “We cannot keep stalling matters in order to avoid difficult decisions in relation to culling badgers. We know badger culling works, and badgers are nowhere near being endangered.”

Country Land and Business Association Wales director Ben Underwood agreed, saying: “By appointing a panel of experts to re-examine the issue, the Welsh Government has effectively kicked this key decision into the long grass.”

But Sarah Kessell, chief executive of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said the organisation believed vaccination offers the best outcome for farming communities “as well as avoiding large scale destruction of our native wildlife”.

Celia Thomas, chairman of Pembrokeshire Against the Cull said: “We are optimistic that a scientific review will favour a long term solution that reduces bovine TB in both cattle and badgers, a solution that culling cannot offer.”

The Badger Trust responded to the announcement by saying it hoped its proposed judicial review challenging the cull order could be avoided, however it said it was “determined to take whatever legal steps are required to safeguard this protected species against unjustified slaughter”.