The urban jungles: Councils face backlash as they go TOO green... by ditching chemical weedkiller and leaving pavements overgrown
Eighty local councils have stopped using weedkiller and are testing alternatives, it emerged yesterday amid mounting anger at dangerously overgrown pavements.
In one area several elderly residents have ended up in hospital with head injuries after tripping or slipping on weeds that were allowed to flourish by the council.
According to figures from the campaign group Pesticide Action Network, 80 councils have banned or restricted the use of glyphosate pesticides.
At least 30 of these councils – many run by Left-wing administrations – have banned glyphosate pesticides altogether or decided to phase them out.
In one area several elderly residents have ended up in hospital with head injuries after tripping or slipping on weeds that were allowed to flourish by the council. Pictured: Lavington Road footpath in Worthing
According to figures from the campaign group Pesticide Action Network, 80 councils have banned or restricted the use of glyphosate pesticides. Pictured: London Road in Brighton
These include the London boroughs of Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Lambeth, plus Bristol, Lewes and Glastonbury.
In Brighton, residents and councillors are urging the council to rethink how they tackle the removal of weeds.
Brighton and Hove City Council, which is run by the Green Party, announced plans to end the use of glyphosate in 2019, citing concerns about its links to cancer in humans and environmental damage. The city aimed to replace the herbicide with new weed-killing techniques such as infrared technology.
Hundreds of residents signed a petition last year calling on the council to do more to tackle the excessive weed growth, saying they were an eyesore.
Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh said in June that several people in Rottingdean ward had ended up in hospital with head injuries after tripping or slipping on weeds, including two women in their eighties. Some residents have taken action themselves by spraying weedkiller on pavements and by trimming verges.
The council said the issue had been worsened by staff shortages during the pandemic to its eight-strong team that removes weeds by hand. It is hiring a company to help remove weeds in future.
At least 30 of these councils – many run by Left-wing administrations – have banned glyphosate pesticides altogether or decided to phase them out. Pictured: Conservative MP David Morris tackling the weed problem in Lancaster
In nearby Worthing weeds dominate some pavements. West Sussex County Council, which covers the seaside town, uses a 'low toxicity' herbicide. Meanwhile, Conservative MP David Morris has accused Lancaster City Council – currently run by a coalition of Green, Labour and independent councillors – of 'failing to provide a basic public service' after it stopped using weedkiller. He has taken direct action, helping to clear the weeds himself.
North Yorkshire County Council has faced a backlash after restricting use of weedkiller to once a year for 'environmental reasons'. Councillors claimed last month that streets in affluent market towns such as Skipton and Catterick had been left looking 'like a jungle' with weeds up to two and a half feet high.
Weeds have also been sprouting in Cambridge. In 2019, the city council banned the use of herbicides in all its parks and open spaces and committed itself to testing alternatives.
Pesticide Action Network said the number of councils restricting or banning pesticides was a 'success story'.
Its campaign stemmed from work by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer . In 2015 the IARC said glyphosate – the most popular type of weedkiller – was 'probably carcinogenic to humans'. This has led countries such as France to ban it for urban use.