Agenda item

It was moved by Councillor Andy Fewings and seconded by Councillor Sarah Hall that;

This Council notes that:

•           there has been a 60% increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides, such as glyphosate, in the UK since1990 [1];

•           Italy, Portugal and the Canadian city of Vancouver have all banned use of glyphosate (or glyphosate-based weed killers) and France has banned the use of all non-agricultural pesticides as of January 2019;

•           Monsanto and German owner Bayer face 12,000 lawsuits in the US from those that believe their illnesses are caused by their products. The first plaintiff won unanimously with many more to follow [2]. Australia has very recently seen its first lawsuit too [3];

•           recent studies published in ScienceDirect show a 41% increased risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma caused by exposure from glyphosate-based weed killers and products [4];

this Council believes:

•           there is compelling evidence that glyphosate and a wide range of other herbicides and pesticides may be harmful to human health;

•           the use of pesticides, herbicides and weed killers reduces biodiversity, impacting negatively on insects, birds and bees at a time when the world is losing 2.5% of its insect population per year [5];

•           harmful weed killer residues can creep into the food chain [6]; and

•           pets and children should not be playing in parks treated with such chemicals.

this Council resolves to:

•           phase out the use of all pesticides, herbicides and weed killers on Council owned or maintained land;

•           cut out all use of glyphosate-based treatments in all council operations within one year, except in parks and children’s play areas where treatments will cease immediately;

•           trial pesticide-free and herbicide-free alternatives during this period. Particularly those adopted by the likes of Hammersmith and Fulham, Lewes and Trafford Councils who use biodegradable foam or hot steam treatments on weeds. To be decided by Executive;

•           grant an exception to the above ban regarding the control of Japanese knotweed, or other invasive species, where necessary and whilst there is no effective mechanical or alternative pesticide-free or herbicide-free techniques available. However, in this case pesticides and herbicides (such as glyphosate) will only be stem-injected, rather than sprayed, in order to reduce its spread in the environment;

•           grant an exception on sprays only in relation to giant hogweed where it is absolutely necessary and not safe to be dug out or safely removed by other means and whilst there is no effective mechanical or alternative pesticide-free or herbicide-free techniques available;

•           write to the Leader of Lancashire County Council to inform it of this Council’s decision and to call on it to implement a ban on the same terms; and

•           write to the Prime Minister to inform the Government of this Council’s opposition to glyphosate-based herbicides and to call for a UK-wide programme to phase out its use.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12- Motions on Expenditure- as this item would have the effect of materially increasing the expenditure of the Council, the motion was REFERRED to the Executive to consider and report back to a future meeting of the Full Council.

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