Issue - meetings

By Councillor Temperton to Councillor Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection

Does the Council use pesticides and herbicides and if so, who decides which ones are used?

Councillor Temperton asked Councillor Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection the following published question:

Does the Council use pesticides and herbicides and if so, who decides which ones are used?

In response Councillor Harrison confirmed that the Council does use pesticides and herbicides. He clarified that ‘pesticides’ was the generic term for substances that control pests and as such pesticides include herbicides. He described the main areas of use in the Council as:

·       Highways – herbicides were used for weed prevention associated with highway maintenance and this was undertaken three times a year by a sub-contractor

·       Grounds Maintenance – herbicides for weed prevention around the town centre and other Borough locations were used as required by the Council’s contractor

·       Cemetery & Crematorium – pesticides for weed prevention were used as required by the in-house team

·       Rangers – pesticides were used to treat invasive vegetation and tree roots as required by the in-house team and by a contractor

He reported that in all applications the decision was made by the Council or contractor as different types of pesticide were required to treat different issues. He concluded that all pesticide use detailed was in line with EU guidelines and legislation.

Councillor Temperton asked a supplementary question about the link in recent research between pesticides with illnesses and how she hoped that this research was being kept under review to inform decisions regarding use. She reported that there were several towns across the Country who had gone pesticide free and asked if Bracknell Forest could become a pesticide free borough in the future?

Councillor Harrison replied that it would be impractical to abandon the use altogether as the Council needed to protect its infrastructure. He observed that the Council did not have control over other people’s use of pesticides. He considered that it was the responsibility of the government to legislate against this. He concluded that there were discussions about banning neonicotinoids which the government was supporting.