A celebrity countryside retreat beloved by A-listers and famed for its impeccable eco-credentials has attracted outrage after it emerged that its management uses a controversial weedkiller across its thousands of acres of farmland and orchards.
Hundreds of locals and campaigners have signed a petition calling for the management team of The Newt in Somerset to stop using glyphosate – a pesticide widely associated with cancer, liver disease and even dementia in humans, and which can damage bee populations and harm soil health.
The luxury farming estate, where cabins cost £1,000-a-night, has hosted stars such as Beyonce and Jay-Z, Kate Moss and Dame Judi Dench, who are attracted by its carefully cultivated image as an eco-paradise.
Owned by South African tech billionaire Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos, an interiors and lifestyle editor, its four restaurants advertise organic, farm-to-table menus.
But critics say that, behind the glossy marketing, the controversial chemicals are being used to maintain its farmland and 30 acres of manicured gardens.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The issue is that The Newt is intent on farming its big landholding intensively, even though it’s not very good farmland, and so they’re soaking it in chemicals, stripping away nature and space for wildlife, and imposing harsh drainage across the land which is causing dangerous localised flooding.
‘There’s simply no space for nature on that huge farm. What is The Newt for, if not to be a place of refuge for guests looking to spend quality time in nature?
‘The petition is the tip of the iceberg. It’s an intensively managed dead zone. Which is mad given the natural, wildlife and leafy image they project.’
It has emerged that The Newt in Somerset uses a controversial weedkiller named glyphosate across its thousands of acres of farmland and orchards
Glyphosate is the world’s most commonly used weedkiller and is the active ingredient in products such as Roundup.
But it has long divided scientific and environmental opinion. Studies have found an association with cancer and neurological conditions, while environmental groups have raised alarm over its impact on pollinators and soil health.
The petition against The Newt, backed by St Trinian’s actress Gabriella Wilde, the stepsister of Cressida Bonas, has called on its management to use eco-friendly alternatives to the chemical. It has attracted more than 600 signatures since being created over a week ago.
Ms Wilde told The MoS: ‘We are fans of The Newt – it’s amazing what has been done. But I was surprised and a little disappointed to learn via this petition that they are using such harmful chemicals in their farming operations.
‘That is certainly not the image they project to their guests and local fans. Is it really necessary, especially given how many local farms are making great strides in moving away from old-school harmful practices and towards more nature-friendly farming?’
Environmental campaigner Ben Goldsmith added that while The Newt was ‘marvellous’ for the area, the proprietors could ‘make a little more space for wildlife on their extended farmland’.
‘Their farm is a bit barren now, in contrast with the gentle wilding that is taking place on a growing number of farms and estates across south Somerset,’ he said. ‘After all, presumably most visitors to The Newt come to spend time in nature?’
The controversy comes after the estate faced tensions with locals following devastating flash floods in 2023, which residents blamed on drainage systems linked to the estate.
Owned by South African tech billionaire Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos (pictured). the Newt’s four restaurants advertise organic, farm-to-table menus
The luxury farming estate, where cabins cost £1,000-a-night, has hosted stars such as Beyonce and Jay-Z, Kate Moss and Dame Judi Dench
Since then, The Newt has worked with local authorities on measures intended to ‘slow the flow’ of water across the landscape.
The Newt’s head gardener, Harry Baldwin, said: ‘The Newt very rarely resorts to herbicides across the gardens, limiting their use to key gravelled spaces to maintain safe and accessible public areas.
‘We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and mainly rely on alternative methods to avoid excessive herbicide usage. Safeguarding our biodiversity across the estate is of utmost importance to us.’
The estate’s farm manager, Cameron Knee, added that its farming operation used glyphosates ‘once a year’ which was timed to avoid the main periods of bee activity and used ‘buffer strips’ to reduce cross contamination with water.
He said: ‘Of the whole estate, only 27 per cent, our arable land, receives plant protection product applications.’
