Anger As Brighton Residents Not Consulted On Weedkiller

Community gardeners – and the bees that they rely on for pollination – face a new threat from the return of glyphosate weedkiller to Brighton and Hove’s streets, a residents’ representative told councillors.

Hollingdean Residents’ Association secretary Ian Beck said that Brighton and Hove City Council should have consulted residents about bringing back the weedkiller.

He spoke out at a council housing management panel meeting where council tenants and leaseholders discuss issues with councillors and officials.

Mr Beck told the meeting on Tuesday (11 June) that, as a cancer survivor, he was concerned about the chemical – sold commercially as Roundup – and its effect on bees and other wildlife.

Councillors voted to restart using the controversial herbicide earlier this year after almost five years of unmanaged weed growth which attracted public complaints, unfavourable media coverage and critical comments on social media.

The council said that it would use a “controlled droplet” method, using less glyphosate than conventional spraying in a way that was more focused.

The weedkiller is suspended in a non-toxic oil solution and sticks to target plants, producing no breathable droplets.

So far workers have treated 140 streets in Portslade and are working on Hove in the first phase.

Mr Beck said:

“Up in Hollingdean we have a really good group trying to make the estate better called Growing Hollingdean. They’ve got their own bee hives to attract the bee population to pollinate the trees.

“These glyphosates don’t care what’s killed and the bee population is disappearing rapidly.

“This is an issue where residents should have been consulted. Bringing back glyphosates is one of the biggest issues this year.

“People like me who have had cancer, we don’t know if they are carcinogenic. We don’t know what wildlife it’s killing. We don’t know if the bee population will survive.

“No one was consulted. It suddenly went through in the council chamber. That’s not democratic. This is the sort of thing Putin would have done in Russia – ‘we’ll do what we want’.”

Hollingdean and Fiveways ward councillor Theresa Fowler said that the policy would be reviewed in a year.

Councillor Fowler said:

“The council tried to do their best to manually remove weeds but it just didn’t work.

“We haven’t been using glyphosate since 2019. We had covid and Brexit and couldn’t get the staff to do with work and the weeds have got out of control in some areas.

“The council has a responsibility to make the pavement safe. I have an email from someone today saying they can’t get around the roads and they’re frightened of falling.”

The council bought a weed ripper but found it ripped up the pavement and boards had to be put up to protect parked cars.

Councillor Fowler said that other councils such as Lewes and Worthing were still using a mist spray of glyphosate rather than the controlled drop method.

An opt-out system is being worked out for areas where the community does not want glyphosate used on weeds.

She added:

“I’ve spent an afternoon in my road clearing weeds with residents. If your road doesn’t have any weeds, there won’t be treatment. That’s the best way.”

The council does not plan to use the solution in the busy centre where weeds are kept down by the number of people walking there.

Councillor Fowler said that streets in Hanover and Elm Grove were not being sprayed for the same reason and that residents there had cleared weeds themselves.

Growing Hollingdean Community Garden in Stanmer Villas