A plan to tackle weeds is due to go before members of Brighton and Hove City Council in the new year.
The news came as Conservative councillor Anne Meadows asked what would happen to Brighton and Hove’s pavements next year without weedkiller.
At a meeting of the council’s City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee yesterday (Tuesday 19 September), Councillor Meadows said that she was aware of “TV gardeners” talking about environmentally friendly weedkillers.
Councillor Meadows said: “There are areas in Hollingbury in my ward where you can’t see the pavement any more. It’s like you have to mow the pavement.”
A senior council official Melissa Francis said that a working group was looking at future options for weeding in the city.
Ms Francis, head of operations at Cityclean, the council’s rubbish and recycling service, said that the working group’s discussions would form the basis of a report to the committee in January.
She said that removing the weeds manually was a challenge compared with using chemicals.
And she said: “We have introduced a traffic light system this year which asks residents to report weeds which are a trip hazard or block access.
“We have a team that goes out and assesses that. Then we remove the weeds causing issues.
“We have scheduled weed removal. Our barrow operatives and street cleansing operatives also remove weeds as part of their role.”
The council also has weed rippers and strimmers to keep the weeds clear.
Ms Francis said that if people could not get through or weeds were causing a trip hazard, they would be cleared.
She urged people to contact the council through the report a problem section of the council’s website.
If only the council had formed the “action plan” before introducing the ban on use of weedkillers by council operatives in 2018 as a result of scaremongering misinformation from Brighton based activists Pesticide Action Network UK.
I wonder how much the proposed solution will cost compared to the £60k per year it cost to spray gutters and pavements with Glyphosate every year?
Hopefully all relevant subject matter experts will be involved in the planning rather than just PAN UK.
Would also like to see quantitative data on how much biodiversity has increased since the council stopped spraying.
I suspect that biodiversity won’t have changed much apart from an increase in ants’ nests. Other insects will still be wary of humans passing close to or through the weeds. Once the weeds are eventually cleared I wonder how much damage to pavements, roads and drains will be revealed that requires expensive repair.
It’s a marked increase in my particular area alongside green development projects. Still, I’d certainly love to see some data on the impact of green developments holistically, so we aren’t cherry picking data.
Cllr Meadows running her mouth as usual, I see. Quick to join the bandwagon, never one to have a unique thought in her head, and never able to provide anything constructive.
No wonder her area looks awful.
B & H should just look at any other council, local or otherwise and see what they do. What a pile this council is.
Other councils, generally are shifting away from Glyco, so in that sense, BHCC are doing exactly what you are suggesting. But yes, emulating what works well is a good strategy.
What?
Citations please – I thought WSCC had returned to spraying Glyphosate on pavements and gutters using a 4×4 buggy?
What are these other councils that’s accepted the scaremongering misinformation from the Pesticide Action Network doing instead?
Why don’t people remove the weeds from outside their houses.It isn’t hard work and takes minutes.When did the British public get so lazy.Thw chemicals are dangerous.Glyphosate for example causes cancer..I would rather pull up the weeds myself than have that sprayed all over the place to breath in.
I think that’s reasonable. Little bit of self maintainance with a bit of a stitch in time mentality, stops things from becoming big problems. There’s also quite a few non carcinogenic, or at least non controversial, methods to weed destroying too!
Cancer? Who told you that. Your not gonna eat the weeds or lick the pavements, oh for Gods sake…..
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The WHO found it was probably carcinogenic to humans. How seriously do you think people should consider cancer?
But this was rejected by the EPA and Glyphosate is still legal to buy and use in the US, the UK, and the EU.
See https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/glyphosate
You’re cherry picking again, Peter. Meta-analysis offer a far better evidence base.
In response to your logic, people are allowed to buy and use cigarettes legally, even though it is linked to causing cancer far more overwhelmingly then this issue.
Exactly stop bloody moaning and do it yourself
All Brighton and Hove residents should ask for or automatically be given a reduction in council for the amount that goes towards street cleaning and weed removal as it’s is clearly not being done so why should we have to pay .
A few years back i used to maintain the mechanical sweepers for BHCC. there was an option of using metal bristle brushes on them which worked very well at de weeding gutters. A few weeks back i was amazed to see a mechanical sweeper in Woodingdean!! where i live, as i was walking to the shops i followed in it,s path and watched as the weeds just sprung back up after its passing, so weeds 1 sweeper nill. Just saying for whjat it is worth
That kind of experienced insight would be useful to give to your ward councillor.
I can’t believe the ignorance of some of those who are complaining that the council doesn’t use glyphosate any more. Do they not read anything and do they not know how toxic this pesticide is? Many of those living in Brighton have told me how wonderful it has been to have nature literally on their doorstep as long as the WILDFLOWERS aren’t actually causing damage or are a trip hazard. It is high time the neat and tidy brigade were told to shut up and nature lovers had their say for a change. This group of nature hating dictators should realize the harm they have done to wildlife with their never ending anti-nature demands and if this new council has any guts at all it would ignore all the moaners and only clear what was actually causing a real problem and was really necessary. Time for wildlife to come before moaning residents!
And yet the EU are about to allow sulphates for 10 years to combat the mistake of leaving weeds to grow out of control, damaging walls pavements and roads
Please define how Glyphosate is “toxic” except, of course, to plants?
We are only talking about weed control on pavements and gutters where they can cause a trip hazard, block drains, and damage paths – you can still have wildflowers growing in gardens, parks, verges, and on waste Land.
And if Glyphosate is as dangerous as you claim, how come it is still legal to buy and use in the UK, the EU, and the USA?
But thank you for your empathy for the elderly, those with visual problems, or those walking at night who have fallen as a result of the weeds growing uncontrolled on pavements.
So Lynette James, people in Brighton have told you how nice it is to have the weeds ,have they,really.? Not that lot in tent city by any chance.?
I think the manufacturers of glyphosphate say that you must leave it 24 hours before you let kids use the area it was used on. How’s that supposed to work on the streets?
Also, they banned it in Europe over cancer concerns. Are UK citizens worth less than Europeans?
You have to weigh the risk against the reward, and it’s not the only way to remove weeds.
BS – Glyphosate is not banned in the EU – it is only certain councils that believed the scaremongering misinformation from groups such as PAN UK. Do you work for them?
https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/pesticides/approval-active-substances/renewal-approval/glyphosate_en
Not quite correct – https://www.rfi.fr/en/business-and-tech/20230920-glyphosate-where-is-it-banned-or-restricted
And it looks like the ban failed https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901123000242
This is a great approach. Personally, I would like to see a system where the person complaining about the weeds has their photo published next to said problematic weeds, so we can assess whether their access is truly impeded, or whether they are just a massive whinger.
I am just back from France where the use of glyphosate in public places has been banned since 2020. Streets looked fine to me.
White vinegar with a little wash-up detergent is very efficient at killing weeds , if sprayed .
Indeed, it’s quite a common natural weedkiller. Pelargonic acid is another good weedkiller with a benign profile.
But non-systemic so may require multiple applications on perennials. So who is doing the cherry picking now and not providing all the facts? 😊
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/pdfs/weedkiller-for-home-gardeners.pdf
And please can you confirm whether or not you are employed by PAN UK? Revealing your surname might help.
Or hot foam and pressure washing. And of course the old fashioned way of using people and manually doing it.
And versus the £60k per annum it cost the council to keep all the city’s pavements and gutters weed free with Glyphosate, how many people and how much will it cost the council to do the same with hot foam, power washing and manually removing weeds?
So Lynette James, people in Brighton have told you how nice it is to have the weeds ,have they,really.? Not that lot in tent city by any chance.?
Glypho’ based solutions are not suitable for public areas. Easy enough to understand I think.
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