Report
to:
Lead Member for Transport and Environment
Date of
meeting: 11 December
2023
By:
Director of Communities, Economy and Transport
Title:
Alternative Weed Maintenance
Trials 2023
Purpose:
To report on the outcomes of highway weed control trials and
recommendations for future weed control
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Lead Member is
recommended to:
(1)
conclude the
alternative weed maintenance trials, noting the feedback, outcomes
and challenges; and
(2)
agree to continue
the use of Glyphosate as weed maintenance on the public highway
until a suitable alternative or additional funding becomes
available; and
(3)
agree to provide
the option for residents to opt into a volunteer maintenance scheme
or District, Borough, Parish or Town Councils to take on weed
maintenance through a local agreement.
1
Background Information
1.1
On 20 September 2021, Councillor Maples and Councillor Hilton
presented a Notice of Motion to the Chairman calling for the
Council to cease use of Glyphosate herbicide in East Sussex County
Council’s (ESCC) weed control.
1.2
At a decision-making meeting on 22 November 2021, the Lead Member
for Transport and Environment resolved to recommend that Full
Council reject the motion as it is not possible to completely
eliminate the use of pesticides but noted that three trials for
alternative weed maintenance techniques in 2022 were planned. The
three trials agreed were a Volunteer Streets weed control trial; a
reactive weed removal trial; and a foam stream weed control
trial.
1.3
At a decision-making meeting on
19 December 2022, the Lead Member for Transport and
Environment agreed to extend the Volunteer Streets and reactive
trials for 2023.
2 Supporting
Information
2
2.1
In line with the County Council Highway Verges and Vegetation
Policy, a single treatment of a Glyphosate based herbicide from the
Health and Safety Executive’s Pesticides Register of UK
Authorised Products suitable for use on highways is used.
Current Weed Maintenance Application and Usage
2.3
Weed growth in channels (the part of the road in front of the kerb)
can slow down or clog up and prevent the highway drainage system
from working properly. Weeds also damage paved surfaces, displace
kerbstones and crack walls making maintenance difficult and costly.
Weeds can also have safety implications for pedestrians by causing
trip hazards, as well as generally looking untidy.
2.4
ESCC carry out one weed spray per year on 1,914 miles of channels,
footpaths, central reservations and islands to manage and control
vegetation growth on the highway network, using a herbicide that
contains Glyphosate. Spraying is carefully controlled and only
applied where weeds are found, and not undertaken on windy or rainy
days.
2.5
The herbicide is applied to weeds in a concentration of 95% water
to 5% herbicide, with a small amount of vegetable oil added for
adhesion and spray control.
2.6
The sprayed herbicide mixture enters the plant through its leaves
and breaks down the weed’s cell structure to kill the weed
over a few days following application. The application by spray
ensures that all parts of the plant are broken down, including the
roots, and therefore slows down any regrowth.
2.7
Three alternative methods of weed control were trialled; volunteer;
reactive; and collaborative road sweeping and strimming in a select
location with Wealden District Council.
2.8
The Volunteer Streets and reactive trials were open to all
residents of East Sussex to apply for their streets to be included,
with the support of their local Member. Applications were then
reviewed to ensure they were safe locations to be part of the
trial. Only residents from Lewes, Hastings and St Leonards applied
and took part.
2.9
The Equality Impact Assessment for these trials can be found at
Appendix 1.
Volunteer Streets
Trial
2.10
Full details of the trial can be found at Appendix 2.
2.11
The volunteer trial gave residents of a particular street the
option to ‘opt-out’ of the Council’s weed
spraying programme and to undertake manual weed control themselves.
To be eligible, agreement from a minimum of 60% of the residents of
the street was required and the resident volunteers would commit to
undertake weed removal. An agreement and guidance were drawn up in
consultation with ESCC Insurance team so that volunteers could be
insured by the Council. Following a safety training session and
local risk assessment the volunteers were issued with personal
protective equipment and notification documents to be completed
when undertaking clearance works.
2.12
There is an amount of documentation and administration required for
volunteers to be covered by ESCC insurance, and despite this being
as streamlined as possible the feedback from volunteers was still
that this was too onerous, and in some instances, there were issues
of documentation not being completed.
2.13
Whilst residents considered the trial largely successful the
results varied between roads, with some roads completely clear and
others where large amounts of weeds remained.
2.14
Restrictions of volunteers unable to work in the road meant some
channels remained full of weeds.
2.15
It should also be noted that this approach relies on the time and
enthusiasm of volunteers and requires ESCC Officer time to
administer and monitor progress.
Reactive
Trial
2.17
The reactive maintenance trial worked on the same principle as
other highway reactive services, such as pothole repairs, whereby
contractors attended when safety defects were identified by the
Highway Stewards either through routine safety inspections or as a
result of public reports. Where weeds were identified they were
removed either by hand-pulling or strimming, depending on the
location and type of weeds present.
2.19
Two roads which were part of the reactive trial for 2022 and were
not sprayed this year, did receive several complaints of overgrown
weeds and safety issues which had to be rectified.
2.20
Given the ad hoc nature of this approach it was felt that moving to
a reactive approach would most likely lead to an earlier
deterioration in highway condition if regular maintenance was not
undertaken and posed significant safety concerns.
Road Strimming and Sweeping Trial
2.21
Full details of the trial can be found at Appendix 4.
2.22
The Road Strimming and Sweeping trial was undertaken in conjunction
with Wealden District Council’s street sweeping team.
2.23
This method was found effective when sites were accessible.
However, for half the sites attempted, maintenance could not be
carried out due to parked cars, therefore the method would be
difficult to apply across large parts of the county and would not
be effective and efficient for the additional cost incurred.
2.24
The method also only removes the visible part of the weed plant and
does not remove the roots, encouraging rapid regrowth.
3
Summary of Trial Findings
3.1
The benefits and issues found from each trial are noted below.
Volunteer Approach
3.2
The benefits noted included bringing communities together, no
Glyphosate use, and volunteers planning their own weed maintenance
taking pride in their community.
3.3
Several issues were encountered particularly with the insurance
requirements which required a large amount of documentation and
administration by ESCC Officers and relies on volunteers completing
and returning documentation; restrictions on where volunteers can
weed leading to missed areas; and variation of uptake by volunteers
and therefore quality of works between groups.
Reactive Approach
3.4
The benefits noted include not using Glyphosate.
3.5
Several concerns were noted including a potential cost increase
associated with call-outs to address safety defects, deterioration
of assets over time, and negative public perception.
Road Sweeping and Strimming
3.6
The benefits noted include not using Glyphosate and leaving a
cleaner finish, although the approach would need to be repeated
several times in line with weed regrowth.
3.7
Several issues were encountered including accessing areas with
parked cars, risks of using strimmer’s in densely parked
areas, additional labour costs, coordination of operational staff
and availability and coordination of resources from different
authorities.
Additional Research
3.9
Research has found that County Councils in England are all in a
similar position to ESCC and are continuing to use Glyphosate to
maintain weeds having failed to find a suitable alternative.
3.10
Of the sample of 15 County Councils who advise what weed
maintenance they undertake on their website, 8 undertake more weed
sprays than ESCC, and 7 carry out at least 1 weed spray.
4
Proposed Options Going Forward
4.1
The following options have been proposed.
1) To
continue to use a Glyphosate based herbicide to efficiently control
weeds and continue to research and explore alternative options as
they enter the market.
2) To offer
all District, Borough, Parish and Town Councils the option to take
on weed maintenance in their area, similarly to Eastbourne Borough
Council, via a local agreement which allows them to explore and
deploy alternatives on a local scale network.
3) To offer
the volunteer option for residents who have a dedicated lead to
coordinate weed maintenance, with the option of working under ESCC
insurance cover or complying with the standard highways
volunteering process, which requires their own insurance cover but
allows more flexibility. See Appendix 6 for details and
requirements of each insurance option.
5
Conclusion and Reasons for Recommendations
5.1
The Council notes the concerns of Councillors and residents
relating to the continued use of Glyphosate and are committed to
finding an alternative means of controlling weed growth, however
the Authority must also meet its statutory duty to maintain a safe
and useable highway network. At the present time, there is no
alternative solution that can be effectively used to treat weeds
over a highway network of over 1,900 miles of road channels and
footways.
5.2
Therefore, it is recommended that the trials are concluded at this
stage and that the Council continues to use a Glyphosate based
herbicide to control weeds across the highway network, until a
suitable alternative or additional funding becomes available.
5.3
The Council will also continue to offer the option of volunteer
weed maintenance to appropriately resourced groups of residents and
will offer District, Borough, Parish and Town Councils the option
to take on weed maintenance through a local agreement.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
Contact Officer: Dale
Poore
Tel. No. 01273 481916
Email: dale.poore@eastsussex.gov.uk
LOCAL
MEMBERS
All
BACKGROUND
DOCUMENTS
Highway Verges and
Vegetation Policy