To spray or not to spray?: Two sides of the weedkiller debate in Cornwall

THE thorny issue of weed control is continuing to exercise a town council in Cornwall. 

The use of the chemical weedkiller glyphosate has been widely criticised by campaigners who say it has an adverse impact on wildlife, the environment and public health. However, on the other side of the argument, there are concerns about the high costs to councils of reverting to manual weeding and the fact that towns start to look rundown if weeds are not properly controlled. 

The government is reviewing whether glyphosate should continue to be used and Cornwall Council is awaiting the outcome of the review before making a decision on whether it will start using the weedkiller again. There was an outcry earlier this year when Cornwall Council said it was thinking about reintroducing the use of the chemical. 

At around that time, St Austell Town Council discussed its continued use of glyphosate on its land and decided to carry on doing so but to review the situation later. 

Now the town council has held an extraordinary meeting to further discuss the issues. At present, the council’s grounds team uses glyphosate on hard services such as footpaths and walls in parks and open spaces. 

Claire Briault, a representative of Climate Action St Austell spoke at the meeting, saying that a petition calling for the ending of the use of glyphosate in St Austell had contained 285 signatures. 

Ms Briault said she had contacted parishes neighbouring St Austell and that Carlyon Parish Council, St Mewan Parish Council and Pentewan Valley Parish Council all confirmed they used glyphosate. 

She also said that glyphosate had not been used in Wadebridge since 2016 and that the contractor, Biffa, used a steel brush to keep town centre streets there weed-free. 

Two members of the public expressed concerns about the use of glyphosate in Cemetery Park in St Austell and asked why the town council was still using the weedkiller when other councils had gone pesticide-free. 

Ian Graham provided a presentation on the use of glyphosate, stating that only government-licensed products are used to treat weeds and that glyphosate is still licensed. He said it would probably be early next year before the government made an announcement on its review into whether glyphosate should be relicensed. 

Mr Graham also stated that an extensive trial in Cardiff had shown glyphosate was the least expensive and the most efficient and appropriate form of weed control. 

St Austell town clerk David Pooley told the meeting that in mid-September a trial took place in Priory Car Park using a diluted glyphosate mixture, with the results being mixed. 

He said manually weeding 96 miles of footways could cost the town council around an additional £225,000 a year and that if volunteers were used there would need to be a pool of around 150 people. 

Mr Pooley said the town council would continue using glyphosate until early next year at which time the outcome of the government’s review and Cornwall Council’s decision on weed control should be known.