Response 1855272

Response to request for information

Reference

1855272

Response date

19 October 2023

Request

1. Does the council use any pesticides to maintain green areas? If it used to, but has now stopped, when did it stop using them?
2. Please provide the following information on amenity pesticide usage, if the council uses pesticides, or used to in the past 5 years.
   1. Does the council use Glyphosate?
   2. Annual quantities of Glyphosate used over the past 5 years. Please provide the quantities for each year separately and include the total amount used both by the council internally and externally through contractors.
   3. Where is Glyphosate used, i.e., parks, play areas, highway verges and roads, pavements, tree bases, estate-based green spaces, etc.
3. How much has the council spent on purchasing and spraying amenity pesticides over the past 5 years? Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff).
4. If the council has stopped using pesticides, how much has been spent on maintaining green spaces over the last five years, and what method is used (i.e., no control, manual weeding, mowing and hand pulling, propane/flame gun, etc.) Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff).
5. If the council has stopped spraying, has it had any complaints for not well-maintained green spaces (i.e., invasive and pernicious weeds) in the past 5 years and how many? Please provide the number of complaints for each year separately.
   Please provide the above in a CSV format.
6. Has the council made any pledge to reduce or stop the usage of pesticides and if so, what strategies does the council have in place to reduce/stop the use of these pesticides? Please provide details on the action plan including dates and costings where possible.

Response

1. Does the council use any pesticides to maintain green areas? If it used to, but has now stopped, when did it stop using them?

   The Council continues to use Glyphosate, but has reduced the frequency of use to no more that than twice a year.

2. Please provide the following information on amenity pesticide usage, if the council uses pesticides, or used to in the past 5 years.
   1. Does the council use Glyphosate? Yes
   2. Annual quantities of Glyphosate used over the past 5 years. Please provide the quantities for each year separately and include the total amount used both by the council internally and externally through contractors. We do not hold information for the last 5 years. This year we have used 19 litres internally and 17 litres have been used by external contractors. External contractors have been used for sports pitch maintenance.
   3. Where is Glyphosate used, i.e., parks, play areas, highway verges and roads, pavements, tree bases, estate-based green spaces, etc. The Council specifies the use of a total non-residual herbicide such a glyphosate or similar. The Council uses herbicide for a number of reasons. Firstly in grass areas around freestanding obstacles such as bins or along fence lines to enable efficient grass cutting and to reduce the risk of mowers causing damage to these structures by avoiding the need to cut up to them. We also use herbicide on areas of hard surfacing to prevent encroachment by plants on path edges and kerbs to ensure that the areas remain accessible to all and to ensure that they do not look neglected. We control weeds in areas of amenity planting and where required on sports facilities. Finally we use herbicide to kill controlled plants such as Japanese Knotweed and it is selectively used to prevent regrowth from tree stumps where stump grinding is not practical. 
3. How much has the council spent on purchasing and spraying amenity pesticides over the past 5 years? Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff). We do not hold the information for the last 5 years. The costs are included in other costs and are not listed separately.
4. If the council has stopped using pesticides, how much has been spent on maintaining green spaces over the last five years, and what method is used (i.e., no control, manual weeding, mowing and hand pulling, propane / flame gun, etc.) Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff). Not applicable
5. If the council has stopped spraying, has it had any complaints for not well-maintained green spaces (i.e., invasive and pernicious weeds) in the past 5 years and how many? Please provide the number of complaints for each year separately.
   Please provide the above in a CSV format. Not applicable
6. Has the council made any pledge to reduce or stop the usage of pesticides and if so, what strategies does the council have in place to reduce/stop the use of these pesticides? Please provide details on the action plan including dates and costings where possible. In 2021 the Council stopped using herbicide to control grass growth at the base of trees this was previously done to prevent mower damage, we now allow the grass to grow long. We also reduced the frequency of applications to no more than twice a year. The Council’s Environment Policy commits to: “5. Environmental Protection – We will adopt the principles of best practicable means and best available technology not entailing excessive costs to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the release of any pollutant that may cause environmental damage to air, water or land, including avoiding unnecessary use of chemicals, herbicides and pesticides”.