Council staff have been testing machines to work out the best way to tackle overgrown weeds on streets and pavements across Brighton and Hove.
The council said: “Brighton and Hove City Council has recently trialled new machinery to help with weeding pavements across the city.
“The new measures include mechanical sweepers, weed rippers and specialist strimmers with weed ripping brushes.”
Labour councillors Tim Rowkins and Theresa Fowler recently met members of the Cityclean team to inspect the new machinery and hear feedback from staff.
The council said: “They concluded that significant improvements have been made using the new machinery which will be used to accelerate weeding over the next few months.
“Weeds across Brighton and Hove have increased since the committee decision to end the use of glyphosate in 2019 and the council is keen to get the situation back under control urgently.
“The council’s priority is to ensure streets, pavements and the wider environment are safe and accessible for residents and to limit damage to highway infrastructure.
“There is a team dedicated to weeding and maintaining street access across the city who are trialling new methods and machinery to help with weeding this season.
“This year the council also started recruitment early and filled the roles they were advertising.
“Early recruitment success meant they were able to get ahead with weeding and pavement maintenance before the weather warmed up.
“The council have established a traffic light system to identify areas where weeding and pavement maintenance will be prioritised while they trial new weeding methods.
“Streets and highways across Brighton and Hove are ranked into red, amber and green zones based on information provided by the council’s highways and street cleansing teams, as well as feedback from residents.
“Red zones are areas where access, trip hazards and damage to highways are more likely which the council will tackle as a priority.”
Councillor Rowkins, who chairs the council’s City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee, said: “We know that dealing with weeds on our pavements is a top priority for residents.
“We are looking at several additional tools to accelerate our weeding and ensure our pavements are accessible for our residents.
“I have been regularly meeting with our street team and I was pleased to be able to inspect the new machinery. The brush weeder was particularly impressive.
“Our new traffic light system and machinery have meant we’ve been able to tackle weeding more effectively this season but there is still a lot of progress to be made.
“We look forward to reviewing and sharing future weeding plans with residents.”
It looks like it will be another “Arfur” machine. i.e. it will do arfur job. Just like the grass cutting, it’s no good only cutting the weeds down. They have to be picked up and taken away as well and I see no collector box on that machine. So, not only will we have grass cuttings all over the place, we’ll have the weeds along with all of their seeds blowing around and propagating again.
Please, council. Make this an example and try to do at least one job right?
All the weeds and other detritus are immediately bagged and collected on the day or collected by the road sweepers , no problem , thank you for your support ♠️🔥♠️
If that is to be the case for the weeds then perhaps it could also be done for the grass cutting because that is absolutely not the case now.
Grass cuttings are highly valuable to the rest of the greenery as mulch. It has many benefits for plants and the soil, including conserving moisture, suppressing weeds, improving soil structure, adding nutrients, regulating soil temperature, and improving the appearance of the garden.
I have been complaining of weeds on pavements and overhanging footpaths for years on behalf of residents of Hollingdean.
I recently visited my sister in Lincoln and guess what, no weeds on pavements, no rubbish in streets and no graffiti. If they can do it why can’t BHCC?(secretary Hollingdean Residents Association
Hi Charles,
The point of this machine is not to cut the weeds, it is to remove the soil that they grow in on the hard surfaces. It will obviously help with weed control, but the main benefit is the prevention of weeds in the future.
Removing the soil buildup means they have nowhere to grow. Reduced soil gives less places for new seeds to establish themselves.
Although doing this at any time is better than not doing it. The timing of this operation is important. Ideally you want to remove the soil build up in winter and early spring to reduce the opportunity for any new weeds to begin growing in later spring. This drastically reduces the seed bank and the nutrient source for any weeds, whilst allowing the tarmac to dry out more rapidly. (provided the soil is collected, as you say).
Soil depth has been shown to affect the types of plants that can grow. The more soil build up you can remove on hard surfaces, the less control treatment you will need, because you will be dealing with far less coverage of different plants (annuals and mosses, which are easier to treat than established perennials), whether you spray with glyphosate or use an alternative method such as hot air or hot water, the soil reduction will make the job a lot easier.
Why is it that only Brighton & Hove has this problem? Go to Eastbourne, Lewes, Worthing, no problem with weeds! Only B & H. Does it not occur to anyone in the “Council” to go and see what other towns are doing .
Because they still use Glyphosate – kills weeds down to roots in one application, (and like all chemicals) is perfectly safe if usage instructions are followed, can be used around fences and cars, doesn’t harm insects or animals, is cheap, and is still perfectly legal to buy and use in the UK, EU, and the USA.
I wonder what damage these new mechanical tools will cause to insects, wildlife, fences and tyres, and how many times per year they will have to remove regrowth?
And we only have the ban because former Green Councillor Tom Druitt got Brighton based Pesticide Action Network UK to present to councillors spreading scaremongering misinformation and convinced them to stop spraying.
Councillors agreed to reduce spraying to once per year until a practical alternative was found, but former Labour Councillor Anne Pissaridou and ETS chair decided to implement a full ban in 2019, allegedly as part of the secret Labour-Green coalition agreement (aka Memorandum of Understanding).
The ban only affects use by council operatives on council managed land. In agreement with my neighbours I use Glyphosate to spot kill weeds on pavements and gutters in our road. Keeps weeds under control, and we have thriving bee, butterfly, insect, bird, and mammalian populations.
Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide and was considered to be non-toxic. But its use in excess in agricultural lands has polluted soils and waters. Nowadays, glyphosate residues are found in soil, water and food. As a result glyphosate causes severe acute and chronic toxicological effects.
Adverse effects on unicellular organisms have been established in many experiments. For instance, glyphosate has reduced the rate of photosynthesis in Euglena, has decreased the radial growth of mycorrhizal fungal species and is also reducing the profusion of certain bacteria present in rhizospheric microbial communities.
Glyphosate poses serious threat to multicellular organisms as well. Its toxicological effects have been traced from lower invertebrates to higher vertebrates. Effects have been observed in annelids (earthworms), arthropods (crustaceans and insects), mollusks, echinoderms, fish, reptiles, amphibians and birds. Toxicological effects like genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, nuclear aberration, hormonal disruption, chromosomal aberrations and DNA damage have also been observed in higher vertebrates like humans.
But Peter challis has seen bees outside… Just outside… Therefore… If you understand logic… Glyphosate must be safe. /s
Thanks for the response. With that well researched answer it’s not surprising you need to hide your identity 😊
Lots of buzzwords and scaremongering. Are you part of PAN UK?
Perhaps some details to support your claims might help, as you seem to be misrepresenting facts and probably include tests at very high concentrations. I note that you don’t deny that Glyphosate is still legal to use, and obviously don’t understand that it rapidly breaks down in the soil.
Water samples from when Glyphosate was used in the city show none present and across all pesticides, levels were well within defined safety limits.
I’m not talking about agricultural use where Glyphosate resistant crops are grown and then sprayed with the herbicide to kill weeds that reduce crops – just selective low use on pavements and gutters.
Hi Peter,
The job of this machine is to remove the soil on hard surfaces, where it shouldn’t be in the first place.
This reduces the available nutrients for new weeds to grow, reducing weed coverage and the future seed bank. This is very helpful whatever control method you then go on to use to spot treat any regrowth. Whether it is brushing, spraying, or using a thermal technique.
The machine actually protects the surfaces (rather than damaging them).
Soil retains water, which freezes in the winter. If this soil is not removed, the freeze-thaw process can do a lot of damage to the surface, where water is not able to drain away. If this damage has already been done, then removing the soil from the surface will reveal this damage. Greater soil depth also allows larger weeds with larger root systems to grow, which can also damage the surface if they are left.
Simply spraying does not solve these problems associated with soil build up. Therefore, whether you spray or not it needs doing. Clearing detritus from the highway is actually a statutory duty in the environmental protection act 1990 section 89. This is further clarified in Defra’s code of Practice on Litter and Refuse.
Less soil on the pavement will lead to less weeds.
These brushes will leave the surface much cleaner than doing it by hand and they will also allow the work to be done at a faster rate.
Here’s another quote:
”The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted extensive investigations into glyphosate and its effects on human health, the environment, and the safety of foods. After reviewing available data on glyphosate, here’s what the agency determined.
Human Health
EPA studies have concluded this about the effects of glyphosate on human health:
– When used according to directions on herbicide product labels glyphosate does not pose any risk to adults.
– There’s also no reason to believe that children are more sensitive to the chemical, or that it poses any special risk to them—whether they’re exposed to it during pregnancy or after they’re born.
– There’s no risk to children that eat foods with residues of glyphosate, neither is there any concern about children playing in residential environments where glyphosate has been used.
– There’s no indication that glyphosate disrupts the endocrine system.
– Glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer in humans.
Other organizations that support the assertion made by the EPA that glyphosate does not cause cancer include the European Chemicals Agency, Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, European Food Safety Authority, the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO), and the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
It is important to note, though, that the International Agency on the Research for Cancer (IARC) deems glyphosate to be “probably carcinogenic to humans.””
Take your pick.
And from last week https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-food-safety-agency-says-no-critical-concerns-with-glyphosate-2023-07-06/
If people are really worried about developing cancer, perhaps start here https://www.webmd.com/cancer/know-common-carcinogens
I use glyphosate on my patch of pavement and it works a treat, still got tons of bees and other insects in my front garden, probably because I’m one of the only people to bother planting seasonal flowers and have not tarmacked my garden (a much bigger issue to wildlife than a spot treatment weed killer). All in all, seeds and weedkiller must cost me about £40 a year.
Talk about using an Elephant to crack a nut ! and where are you going to find residential streets in Brighton and Hove without cars to use this new machine. Anyone heard of a hoe? The glyphosate was a simple effective solution and is harmless, please reinstate some common sense at the council.
I think the council are more worried about being shown to have been gullible by just listening to Brighton based charity Pesticide Action Network UK, and not checking with manufacturers, and government agencies tasked with vetting such products.
That none of the Green councillors have a STEM based education to be able to question PANs statements just shows how easily then can get hoodwinked into implementing various schemes.
It’s now 4 years since the ban was introduced, and other councils have decided to go back to using Glyphosate because it works.
We just have (I believe) 6 operatives with hoes to attempt to remove weeds from all the pavements and gutters. Glyphosate spraying the entire city used to cost c. £60k per annum.
In other news, former Green Councillor Amy Heley is now employed full time by Pesticide Action Network UK as a Public Affairs and Media Officer according to her LinkedIn entry.
On Google all the time is suggestions on how to kil weeds in your garden by using household products which are cheap and affective, so why don’t the councils use this method.
Vinegar salt and liquid soap.
Vinegar and salt are less effective than Glyphosate as they don’t kill down to the roots.
Glyphosate breaks down rapidly in the soil meaning it only affects the area sprayed.
Salt runoff can kill surrounding plants and vinegar needs to be at high concentrations to be effective which also has risks to health and can damage paths.
Soap is good for killing aphids which is a different issues. The council’s “pesticide ban” only applies to the one herbicide – Glyphosate – and even they still use it on Japanese Knotweed and tree stumps.
To reiterate, there’s also a significant cost of animal and human injury caused by the proliferation of weeds. We do not have the budget and manpower to cut, strim or rip weeds regularly enough to prevent this problem because these methods require it to be done more frequently.
My dog has a foxtail barley grass seed embedded in his paw and going to the vet today to be removed, likely to cost a few hundred quid, not happy.
How can we force the Council to revisit their decision and allow glyphosate? Our roads, gutters and pavements are abysmal. They are so far out of control that they are never going to achieve control with a small team and some barely adequate machinery. Our councillor has admitted in an email to me that this issue has come up on the doorstep loud and clear so it is definitely not a minority concern.