Minutes:
Councillor Wing asked Councillor Albon the following question:
“How many litres of weed killer containing glyphosate were used by TDC in the last 4-years; (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) and where was this applied, for example around parks, play grounds, building etc and why are we still using this out in our communities, giving residents no or little indication of its use or indeed, any choice to avoid, if being applied near them, when the International Agency for Research on Cancer classes glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’, and an increasing number of countries and councils within the UK have banned its in favour of alternative methods?”
Councillor Albon responded with the following points:
· Approximately 90 litres of Glyphosate have been used by the Council in each of the last four years.
· Legally enforceable conditions of use are imposed on the way products can be applied, to ensure the public are not exposed to levels of pesticides that would harm health or have unacceptable effects on the environment. Application is via spot treatment only, it is never sprayed openly and is not used in playgrounds, along the seafront, around trees, in flower beds or around shrubs and hedges.
· I could just say that if you’ve seen anybody spraying or whizzing a spray around as I have; it’s Kent County Council and not Thanet District Council.
· Glyphosate remains approved for use in the UK until at least 2025. The Health and Safety Executive notes that the responsible use of pesticides in amenity areas as part of an integrated programme of control can help deliver sustainable benefits for society. These include management of conservation areas, invasive species and flood risks; access to high quality sporting facilities; and safe public spaces (for example, by preventing weed growth on hard surfaces creating trip hazards), industrial sites and transport infrastructure.
· What I can also advise you, which you don’t know, is that since we have been elected we have been considering the use of Glyphosate and we have suspended the use of Glyphosate.
· We have looked previously at alternatives, the alternatives do not do the job, they are not good enough. If we continue and do not use Glyphosate anymore, the issues will be from the residents; we all know that residents will complain more about the state of the weeds. We haven’t got the resources to go and hand pull them up.
Councillor Wing asked a supplementary question as follows:
Had TDC suspended Glyphosate because it’s the dormant season? And if it went back to using Glyphosate, would the Council pledge to inform residents where they’re using it so that those residents can decide where to walk their dogs and avoid the areas where it was used.
Councillor Albon responded by confirming:
That TDC did not use glysophate in the Winter. One of the things that officers were asked to do is to put signs up as to where Glyphosate was sprayed. Should its use continue, TDC would let all Members know where the signs were put up, but alternatives would continue to be sought.