Cork City Council to cut use of chemical weedkiller in public areas

Cork City Council says it plans to drastically reduce its use of chemical weedkillers.

A local authority has announced plans to slash its use of chemical-based weedkiller in amenity areas by up to 90% next year.

Cork City Council said trials on the use and effectiveness of organic herbicides, as well as on the use, effectiveness of mechanical weed control and mulching have been carried out in certain public areas since the start of this year.

City councillors have now been told that the findings of these trials will feed into a review later this autumn of the use of chemical herbicide with a view to the council reducing its use in amenity areas by 90% in 2022.

The council has been under pressure from some councillors for some time to end its use of glyphosate-based weedkillers.

The details of the council's plans to drastically reduce its use of chemical weedkillers are contained in a written reply to Green Party Cllr Dan Boyle who had asked for details on any additional biodiversity measures which have been taken by the council so far this year, including the amount of public parks rewilded, the type and quantity of pollinator-friendly plants planted, and whether there has been any reduction in the cutting of grass verges or the use of chemical-based weedkiller.

In his reply, David Joyce, the council’s director of services in the roads and environment operations directorate, said the council has created a number of wildflower meadows in parks, amenity walks, roadside verges, and open space areas, he said it has planted native Irish tree species and pollinator-friendly herbaceous perennials, with over 70% of seasonal floral planting being pollinator-friendly, he said it has installed bug hotels and has already reduced by 25% its use of chemical herbicides in amenity areas this year.

Shredding litter

Separately, the council has defended its grass-cutting policy after claims on social media that some of its lawn mowing teams were shredding litter instead of picking up it before mowing.

The criticism was posted on a Twitter account that promotes the wildlife in the Glen River valley, on the city’s northside.

The council was accused of “displaying a disregard bordering on contempt for communities” by running lawnmowers over the rubbish instead of cleaning the green areas first.

But the council said it is policy that any litter present or visible on amenity areas is collected in advance of grass mowing to ensure that one piece of litter doesn’t multiply to many pieces following mowing.

“Nature areas that are mowed twice a year may contain litter buried in the long vegetation which only becomes visible following mowing,” a spokesman said.

“Again the policy is to collect following mowing and leave the area litter-free.

“The comments posted on social media in relation to specific green areas do not reflect the actual position.”