News

Cllr Julia Evans

Greens call for ban on Glyphosate on Council-owned land

3rd July 2023

Cllr Julia Evans (pictured) of the Green Party is calling on Shropshire Council to show real green credential by banning the use of Glyphoshates on Council owned land.

Julia who is the local member for the Radbrook ward in Shrewsbury explained “I have been appalled to see brown and dead vegetation as a result of spraying on Council land in my ward. In 2015 the World Health Organisation classified this chemical as possibly carcinogenic and harmful for many ground burrowing insects, including certain species of bee and other pollinators. The Council has a duty under the Environment Act of 2021 to conserve and enhance biodiversity and it is shameful that we have waited this long for this most damaging of chemicals to be banned. Studies have shown that up to 76% of insects may have been lost over the last thirty years. Run off from public spaces means these chemicals can end up in watercourses and rivers. Fortunately alternatives to Glysophates are readily available and already used by many other Councils. These are not harmful to wildlife or to humans”.

Shropshire Council supported the Climate & Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill, in February of this year, and this motion is a practical and effective way that the Council can play its part in addressing the ecological crisis the country faces. The motion will be debated at Shropshire Council meeting on the 6th July.

(This article was amended to state that the Shropshire Council meeting is on the 6th July and not the 16th as originally stated.)

Update

After today’s Full Council meeting (6 July 2023) and the Motion put forward on the ban of Glysophate use in Shropshire by the Council and on its land, Julia Evans stated she was very disappointed. ‘Other Councils and Countries such as Italy and Portugal have banned it’s use, investing in Nature and so the nature recovery strategy and I am sad that Shropshire cannot be one of them.’ she said. ‘Even an amendment if the Conservative Councillors had issue with the wording would have been welcomed.’ The Motion was being put forward after the World Health Organisation had deemed the herbicide as a possible carcinogen in 2015, it also may have a detrimental effect on insects who burrow, many of which are pollinators.

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