Environmentalists protest against 'harmful' weedkiller spraying across Dudley borough

More than 25 protesters joined Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors at Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge, after the council purchased three weedkiller-spraying quad bikes.

The use of glyphosate in weedkiller has been a long-running issue in Dudley with environmentalists and the council disagreeing about how harmful the pesticides are.

Ros Partridge, from Friends of the Earth, said “In 2020 Dudley Council declared a Climate Emergency which hopefully they are serious about because the planet is at a critical stage right now. Herbicides such as glyphosate are harmful to our environment.

"It kills bees on which we depend for our food supply, it destroys wildlife in the soil, streams, ponds and rivers so using it is actually contributing to the Climate Emergency. The World Health Organisation have designated glyphosate as a probable cause of cancer and a threat to human health. Spraying must be phased out by Dudley Council rather than increased by using quad bikes to spread it."

Wollaston and Stourbridge Town Councillor Cat Eccles said “I have been campaigning against the use of glyphosate and other harmful pesticides in our borough for many years now. This is something which residents raise with me time and time again.

"I am frustrated that Dudley Council, under the control of the Conservatives, is not listening or acting like they care about the local environment."

Dudley Council's new 50cc Yamaha quad bikes are fitted with device to spray weedkiller in ‘parks, streets and other high-profile places' and cost up to £6,000 a year.

Wollaston and Stourbridge Town Councillor Andrew Tromans said: “The decision to purchase these quad bikes is an outrageous use of public money. It was not brought to the Climate Change Select Committee for pre-decision scrutiny and moreover it sends the wrong message about how we should be looking after our local environment.

“Instead of spraying harmful chemicals all over our parks and streets, I believe that Dudley should be joining 48 other local authorities across the UK who are banning or phasing out the use of pesticides in the areas they maintain.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Ryan Priest, who won the recent Cradley and Wollescote by-election, added: "It's frightening that the council is doubling down on it's usage of a chemical known to cause such damage, and doing so in such a careless and uncontrollable way."

However, Dudley Council defended the "safe" spraying of weedkiller which is "fully compliant" with the law.

Councillor Damian Corfield, cabinet member for highways and environmental services, said: “The use of quad bikes has significantly improved the efficiency of the weed spraying service. They can cover ground more quickly and offer a very targeted spraying technique.

“One quad bike can do the work of 15 workers, so this frees up hundreds of hours of staff time to work in other areas of the service and deliver further improvements for residents.

“The spraying is safe and fully compliant with the law and its continued use was fully supported at a scrutiny meeting earlier this year.”