At the Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK), we were disappointed to read recent articles in the national press attacking Brighton and Hove City Council for their ban on urban pesticides.
These articles completely ignore the human health benefits of ending pesticide use in urban areas such as Brighton.
More than three-quarters of the pesticides sprayed in UK towns and cities contain the weedkiller glyphosate, classified by the World Health Organisation as a “probable human carcinogen”.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of pesticides because their bodies are still developing.
Due to health concerns, when glyphosate received approval in 2017 it was under the condition that its use was “minimised in public spaces”.
The UK is lagging behind countries like France which banned pesticides from urban areas four years ago.
Cities like Montreal and New York have introduced restrictions as have a third of London boroughs, including Hammersmith and Fulham which has been pesticide-free since 2016.
This issue is not party political. Brighton and Hove Council’s commitment to go pesticide-free was made in 2019 when Labour was in charge.
The Conservative’s London Mayoral manifesto promised to “work with local councils to phase out pesticide use”.
In 2019, Councillor Robert Nemeth, who was quoted in several articles, pledged to work towards going pesticide-free if elected.
Stopping pesticide use is not about rewilding. It’s about ending the outdated use of toxic chemicals where we live and play.
While some areas (like road verges) can be left to grow, others must be cleared.
I was saddened to hear that two women have sustained injuries from tripping on weeds and wish them the speediest of recoveries.
But non-chemical alternatives to pesticides are capable of keeping areas clear of weeds, are widely available and have already been adopted by 80 UK councils.
The past months have presented particular challenges with covid-related staff shortages and erratic weather driving weed growth.
While there may be teething problems as we transition away from pesticides, towns and cities in the UK and beyond have proven that if we work together to find solutions we can usher in a healthier and more sustainable future for both people and wildlife.
Josie Cohen is a Brighton and Hove resident and head of policy and campaigns at the Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK).
Useful information. Particularly that 80 other councils in the UK have made the switch away from pesticides but none, apparently, has had the problems that Brighton has. Covid and weather isn’t an excuse. That applies to the other 80 as well. There haven’t been national headlines for any of them…..
So what can Brighton and Hove council do that it isn’t at the moment? Is it money, skills or something else? How quickly can this be resolved using the other councils as a guide? I presume a month or two (as weeds grow back more quickly than that)….
Once again, the staff and councillors have let us down. Others can do this – B&H council once again seems to come bottom!
Will staff be disciplined? Or councillors resign? I suspect not. There seems to be no process for business case sign off or programme management. So onto the next mess we unhappily go never learning or improving…..
I for one applaud the Council for taking this bold step to end the use of pointless, potentially harmful chemicals across the City. Not only does it stop citizens from being exposed to harmful chemicals it also helps to increase our urban biodiversity at a time when the planet is facing a biodiversity and climate crisis.
Rather than complaining about the council we should be praising them for doing this and supporting them to continue down this path. Any new approach will obviously have teething problems but they can be overcome with encouragement.
So let’s have a bit of positivity about what is a really welcome initiative and one that is supported by the majority of Brighton & Hove residents.
Yes, teething problems are to be expected. Although they can be reduced by learning from other areas which are already running and how they changed over. If this had just been a problem in the first weeks or months then maybe. But this has been running for well over a year. And the second year is worse than the first. And the first had much worse problems with Covid etc.
However positively you look at this, we deserve better. The idea is a good one. The implementation is not good. And that matters as it harms both people (literally) and the initiative itself.
So why have the Greens and their council not brought in the alternatives?
Oh wait, people queue up to say leave the city to go wild.
Yeah right, NOT.
The Greens have to go, they have outlived any business and resident focus.
Now they are driven by dogma.
Lewes Council have used an alternative to pesticides with great success. It’s called Foamstream.
So 80 other councils had a plan b in place and Brighton and Hove obviously did not, make of that as you will. Also this ‘rewilding’ excuse seems a complete and utter nonsense as PAN UK are saying that pavements should be cleared.
Not against banning pesticides at all, but the money they saved not buying them should have been spent on more staff for weed clearance.
Also where we see poor local services it’s the huge cutbacks in central government funding that are to blame. If anyone is responsible for poor provision of council services it’s Boris Johnson
Except that it only cost £40k per year to keep the streets free of weeds using Glyphosate weed killers that safely kill plants down to the roots.
The 8 additional staff employed to remove weeds manually must cost at least £160k per year and are totally inadequate to repeatedly remove weeds as they regrow after they have been hoed.
How many staff are required to provide the equivalent that Glyphosate provided? Perhaps the experts in science and horticulture at PAN would like to illuminate us with their brilliance.
They are quick to generate paranoia about pesticides, but seem unable to come up with practical alternatives in the real world.
You’ve summed it up well Josie – it’s council incompetence that’s the issue. If 80 other councils can manage weeds without pesticides then why can’t B&H?
Support the ban on harmful pesticides but that is no excuse for the blocked gutters and the crowding out of pavements. Our street, in the centre of Hove, hasn’t been cleaned for half a year or more!
As residents, we collect rubbish on a regular basis, but feel that the council has completely abdicated its responsibilities
It doesn’t matter one jot which administration introduced it.
The current administration have ballsed it up. Completely.
But hey, it’s the Greens so it’s to be expected.
Good idea, very poorly executed, standard Brighton Council. Dangerous for pedestrians, its now getting dangerous for road users as you can’t see coming out of some junctions.
I think most people in this city are fairly forward thinking and pragmatic.
Last month it was the cycle lanes, this month the weeds, I’m not even going to go on about the recycling bins in the middle of roads. My question is simple, when you make a new policy at council level, is it not part of the process to say, if we do X then there will be always a negative outcome, what can we do to limit that.
Why does this not happen?
It seems to go, oh here’s an idea, let’s do it and the negative outcome – who cares, we can say we are doing it for the right reasons and dam the consequences.
It’s easy with this to say, it’s just some weeds, but people will injure them self’s, cars will have accidents and guess what, they rightly can sue the council. But with a bit of thoughtful planning it doesn’t and shouldn’t have to come to that.
It’s really a shame the student population can vote in local councillors elections and not be made to vote where they actually live, I feel because of this we will always have a shambles local government as I’m quite sure most of us who live here are sick to death of the greens doing things halk arsed with 0 planning. Don’t think I’ve actually met a single green voter who isn’t a student, says it all.
Good to see the usual scaremongering misinformation from the Brighton based Pesticide Action Network charity.
For background, it was then Labour leader of the ETS Committee, Councillor Anne Pissaridou, who introduced the pesticide ban, but it was apparently at the bequest of the Greens.
The ETS committee had originally agreed to reduce sprayings to once per year as a result of pressure from Councillor Tom Druitt and the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) but Anne decided to stop all spraying without consulting anyone, and 2 years on, they still haven’t introduced a practical alternative.
The 8 additional staff taken on to control weeds manually in a city the size of Brighton & Hove was always going to be totally inadequate.
And as we know the “pesticide” ban only applies to one herbicide, and then only for use by Brighton & Hove City Council operatives on their land.
Glyphosate weed killers are still perfectly legal to use by anyone else, anywhere in the city, and can be purchased from garden centres and online – just make sure you follow the safety instructions, as you would with any chemical that you use.
Remember, that everything is made from chemicals and all are perfectly safe at low concentrations and can be lethal (or ‘toxic’) at higher levels. This applies equally to herbicides.
PAN seem to want to generate the fear that even microscopic quantities of pesticides are deadly. If only they understood scientific facts as much as they do generating emotive propaganda.
In agreement with my neighbours I am now controlling weeds in our street on pavements and gutters with Glyphosate based weed killers.
The city council has been looking at alternatives for the past 2 years, but nothing is as effective as Glyphosate. Some tools such as steam, fire, and foam can’t be used next to cars, and many don’t kill roots allowing regrowth. Weeds growing amongst other plants are particularly tricky to remove manually.
And don’t forget that the council still uses Glyphosate for killing Japanese Hog Weed and tree stumps.
Perhaps PAN, or the Green Party activists who supported their scaremongering, can come up with some suggestions for practical, cost effective, alternatives?
Could PAN also suggest alternatives for all the others classes of pesticides they oppose including rodent poisons, fly and wasp killers, and flea and worm treatments for pets?
Peter, as always, a well put and realistic number of points.
Thank you. It will be interesting to see if someone, possibly Josie Cohen, will respond. I used to tackle PANs claims on Twitter, but they just refused to reply.
When you see the likes of Green Cllr Lloyd gibbering insanely on national TV you understand how utterly clueless the Greens are. Brighton is now the laughing stock of the nation thanks to them. Something needs to change…pronto
Very well said Peter. Total load of scaremongering about herbicides as usual.
You don’t need chemicals!! Pee works just as well and is completely natural – you just need to get over the gross factor. We grow our own organic tomatoes and between me and my partner, we’ve never had a problem with pests.
Hate to point it out, but you, me, pee, and everything around you is made of chemicals and too much of any chemical can be lethal (or toxic) and low concentrations are perfectly safe.
I think I’ll avoid your tomatoes – not sure why you need a weed killer anyway – or are you using it as an insecticide?
Perhaps have a read of https://www.gardenguides.com/12336727-urine-as-a-weed-killer.html
Looks like urine is more beneficial as a fertiliser.