For goodness sake! Calderdale Council has put out a press release saying they’re reviewing their use of glyphosate.
Well we knew that, they’ve been reviewing it at least since 2016, when Cllr Dave Young explained the position as set out by a Working Party of the Communities Scrutiny Panel:
“We are…actively researching alternative products but we have not yet found anything which is as cost-effective (this is not just about price – we would never put cost above the health of our communities, and particularly children – but is about whether it does what it’s meant to do, i.e. kills weeds effectively).
We are in regular contact with other Councils, contractors who use alternative treatments, the Health & Safety Executive and the Chemicals Regulations Directorate (who confirmed on 29 June 2016 that the use of glyphosate within the EU has been extended for a further 18 months, until 31 December 2017).”
What we want to know is when they are going to end their review and make a decision about stopping the use of glyphosate.
The press release says
“Only around 800 litres are now used compared to 2000 litres in 2016… the Council now wants to go further and stop usage altogether.”
Ok so they’ve reduced use by 60% over 3 years, which is something. However they don’t say when they’re going to stop using it.
They say,
“Safer, Cleaner, Greener operatives are trialling manual techniques such as brushing, strimming or steaming and non-hazardous foam treatments, although these are only effective in the short term and are not always appropriate for every area.
The team is also sharing information with other local authorities who are experimenting with alternative methods of organic and biodegradable weed control.”
Groundhog Day at Calderdale Council
So what’s new? Three years ago the Council was already “in regular contact with other Councils, contractors who use alternative treatments…”
We’re all in favour of recycling – but recycling three year old news as if it was something new is something else.
Talk about kicking the (glyphosate) can down the road.
Complete misinterpretation of press release . Calderdale is stepping up
its policy on this and a report will be with Cabinet in few weeks . Couldn’t be clearer – we are stopping it and have already reduced by 40 per cent
Glad to hear it, but in fact the press release could have been a lot clearer. It could have said that the Council is stopping its use of glyphosate in a few weeks, once Cabinet has received a new policy report on the Council’s use of glyphosate.