The Horticultural Trades Association ( HTA ) has typeset out a elaborate reception to the Scottish Government Consultation on terminate the Sale of Peat , representing the views from the breadth of its 1,400 - strong membership – from growers to landscape gardener , retailers to manufacturers .
The audience , which launched in February and closed on 12 May , take after the 2022 UK government consultation . It is a vital issue for an industry which supports nearly 700,000 jobs , has a home GDP of almost £ 28 billion , mitigates climate change and benefits the wellness and well - being of 30 million gardeners in the UK . In Scotland , this is conk out down as a share of £ 2.8bn towards GDP and over 64,000 jobs . This has the potential difference to surface significantly by 2030 if the industry and cardinal stakeholder act together now .
The HTA response in summary :
James Barnes , HTA Chairman , commented : “ We receive having the opportunity to eat our proficient view into the Scottish Government consultation on ending the sale of peat in Scotland . This is a vital subject for HTA members . It has taken hard body of work and investment , and many businesses are still on the journeying . The sector ’s progress to date in reduce peat use must be fete .
The arbitrary delivery forward of the particular date for peat remotion from the professional sphere from 2030 to 2026 by DEFRA remains an existential threat to the size of it and scale of the Scottish industry . The industry is on target to meet this deadline with sure specialist exemptions . However , reducing the number of grow seasons from 7 to 3 will gravely curtail the power to trial new mixes efficaciously , leading to provision shortage . Moreover , banning all imports contain any peat will considerably cut back selection for consumer , leading to both pretentiousness and potential rationing .
We urge the Scottish Government to desist from following this illustration . To realize the command timeframes and support gardening businesses with R&D funding to fully transition from using peat . We want to rent fully with the Scottish Government to insure we can fork up increase for horticulture and increase gardening and greenspaces with the people benefit it lend . Our dedication and ambitiousness for the sector in Scotland have been set out in our late Scottish Environmental Horticulture Growth Strategy , which we are eager can be save . ”
For more information : Horticultural swop Associationwww.the-hta.org.uk
