On Air Now Tom, Lou & Jack More Radio Breakfast 6:00am - 10:00am Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime Schedule

Calls To STOP Using Controversial Weedkiller Refused By East Sussex County Council

Tuesday, 29 September 2020 07:29

By Huw Oxburgh, local democracy reporter

East Sussex County Council has rejected calls to stop using a controversial weedkiller, saying it remains the ‘most effective and efficient’ measure available.

On Monday (September 28), lead member for transport and environment Claire Dowling confirmed the council will continue to use glyphosate-based weedkillers to control roadside vegetation. 

The decision follows on from two petitions from local residents, calling on the council to ban the use of the herbicide both in the Eastbourne, Jevington and Willingdon area and in Hastings.

Green Party campaigner Julia Hilton, who was the lead signatory of the Hastings petition, spoke at the meeting. She said:

"It is almost a year since the council declared a climate emergency and one aspect of that was that we support the aims and implementations of the UN’s sustainable development goals.

“[One of those] is to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems … and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

“Better verge management and banning pesticide use would be a really good start locally.”

Cllr Dowling also heard from Lucinda Westwood, lead signatory of the Eastbourne, Jevington and Willingdon petition. The same petition – signed by 850 people –  had also been addressed to Eastbourne Borough Council’s lead member for environment, as that authority carries out the majority of weed-killing within the town.

Cllr David Tutt (Lib Dem), who is leader of Eastbourne Borough Council as well as a county councillor, spoke at the meeting as well, saying glyphosate has had a “devastating” impact on biodiversity.

He said:

“They have had a positive impact in terms of weed management in … urban areas. Put that perhaps on the positive side.

“On the negative side … they have had clearly a devastating effect on biodiversity. The jury is still out whether they have any impact on humans and human health … and I’ve also seen evidence they have an impact on animals.”

He added:

“There are alternatives available. I accept that they are not necessarily as cheap but I don’t think that should be seen as a barrier as a change away from that and finding alternative ways to managing weed control.

“I would urge you to make a bold decision today, to actually determine that East Sussex County Council – and through its agency agreements with Eastbourne Borough Council and others – cease the use of glyphosate.”

Cllr Tutt said the council should set a target date of the end of the year to find a permanent alternative. 

However, the county council says it has already looked at a number of alternatives to using glyphosate, including: hand weeding, spraying of vinegar, thermal and mechanical methods as well as a herbicide-free treatment known as FoamStream.

It says all these alternatives “have been found to be too costly, not suitable for need, less effective and/or inefficient for highways use at the present time.”

For example, using FoamStream – which involves the use of hot water and a biodegradable foam –  would cost approximately £90,340 per application if used in the Hastings area alone. This is five times the current cost for Hastings weed control of approximately £18,000, the council says. 

Cllr Godfrey Daniel, Hastings councillor and co-leader of the council’s Labour group, said:

“While Cllr Tutt is happy to ignore the cost, I have to be aware of … the lack of finance we are going to have over the next few years. It is easy to say let’s just stop it and do the more expensive thing.

“I would be very happy to support calling on the government for more research into this area. It should really be a government-led approach.”

“The sooner we can get a decent alternative the better, but we are simply not there yet.”

According to officers, the county council currently only carries out a single weed kill per year, using a weak solution made up of five per cent glyphosate and 95 per cent water. Officers said this is sprayed directly on to weeds rather than over a wider area.

This was disputed by Ms Hilton, who described contractors as being “cavalier” when weed spraying.  Cllr Dowling asked officers to approach the council’s contractors to discuss these concerns.

While Cllr Dowling agreed to go with officers recommendation  – i.e to continue using glyphosate until a suitable alternative could be found – she added that the council would work with its partners, with a view to finding alternative methods as part of the next highways maintenance contract in 2023.

She said:

“We have already, unlike a lot of local authorities out there, reduced what we do on the ground. 

“We have reduced to one spray per year and I believe we are down to the weakest solution that we could possibly do. 

“We do have a responsibility for maintaining our highways and gullies and I am aware that we do only look at treating where there are weeds, not blanket spraying.”

More from Sussex News

Comments

Add a comment

Log in to the club or enter your details below.

Your News

It’s easy to get in touch with the More Radio News team.

Add you phone number if you would like us to call you back