Amanda is a nature and environment writer and blogger based in the wilds of suburban south London. She writes mainly about suburban wildflowers, insects and birds on her blog. Her nature writing has appeared in anthologies, on the London Wildlife Trust blog and in Devon Life Magazine. She also blogs on www.freelancenaturewriter.com about her experience of becoming a freelance nature writer after ditching her day job. Twitter: @suburbanwilduk
Three reasons why Local Councils should think about weeds in a different way…
A month ago I asked London Councils what their policies were on weed management, use of weedkillers and any initiatives underway to reduce their use. Twenty-three of them have replied so far and you can find their responses here www.freelancenaturewriter.com
I believe there are (at least) three good reasons why Councils should think about weeds in a different way.
Reason 1 – To support biodiversity
We need much more tolerance of the wild and naturalised plants growing on pavements, verges and other informal green spaces to support biodiversity.
Councils should promote the value of wildflower weeds and there may be an increasing appetite for this. During lockdown, pavement botany has become a thing (1), many of us have become acutely aware of how our councils manage road verges (2) and on social media we’ve debated planting schemes on verges (3). The Plantlife Road Verge Campaign has great advice for Councils on how to influence attitudes to wildflower weeds effectively.
Reason 2 – To save stretched Council budgets
If attitudes to pavement plants and verges change, it would reduce the need for mowing and weed control and could potentially save Council funds. The impact of Covid on funding may well be crippling, so now more than ever Councils will be looking for win-win efficiencies.
Reason 3 – To prioritise the health of their residents, Council workers and the environment
A different attitude to weeds could enable much reduced use of weedkillers. There continue to be concerns about the impact of weedkillers on both our health and the environment. Evidence on the safety of prolonged exposure to glyphosate, for example, remains inconclusive. In that context, Councils would be wise to apply the precautionary principle.
Some London Councils have already taken action
Responses to my questions to London Councils, show that some of them are already making good progress.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council took the precautionary approach back in 2016 and banned the use of glyphosate weedkillers on council maintained land, replacing it with foam and hot water treatments.
Croydon Council stopped using glyphosate in 2019 in parks and social housing.
Westminster Council only uses weedkiller when there is a very specific weed problem that is hard to eradicate and used less than 10 litres of glyphosate over the last three years.
Hackney Council doesn’t use weedkiller on treepits and encourages residents to create treepit gardens. A trial weed spraying exclusion zone in Homerton, was introduced in the spring of 2019. It initially covered 22 streets and is being expanded to 70.
Haringey Council is piloting a collaboration with the Friends of Tower Gardens to declare Tower Gardens a herbicide free area. The Friends are increasing their work programme to include the hand weeding required.
Lambeth Council runs a scheme in which streets can opt-out of weed control if they pledge to manage weeds themselves.
What you can do if you think your Council should promote wildflower weeds and use less weedkiller
Councils (perhaps other than my own London borough, Southwark) won’t care what I think about their weed management but they will care what their own residents think.
You could…
- Make a complaint to your Council whenever you see badly-timed mowing or weedkillers being used. Barnet Council reported they had far more complaints about weeds than they did about weedkillers and the Council then rejected a policy to reduce the use of weedkillers.
- If you live in London, look at the response from your Council to my questions on my blog www.freelancenaturewriter.com and contact the councillors with responsibility for weed management. Tell them your views on wildflower weeds and using weedkillers and ask them what action they are going to take when weed management contracts are being renewed.
- Use your local networks to find others who also want your Council to promote wildflower weeds and reduce the use of weedkillers, and as a group ask to meet with your Councillors to discuss your views and concerns.
References
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/01/not-just-weeds-how-rebel-botanists-are-using-graffiti-to-name-forgotten-flora-aoe
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/14/on-the-verge-a-quiet-roadside-revolution-is-boosting-wildflowers-aoe
- https://markavery.info/2020/06/12/guest-blog-wildflower-rich-road-verges-the-botanists-hen-harrier-by-kevin-walker/
This would make an excellent annual survey. The fact that you got the majority of councils to answer frankly astounds an old cynic like me.
My brother lives in Bexley and we occasionally meet up for a dog walk. The go to area is Foots Cray Meadows(Five Arches locally). It’s a large area alongside the river Cray. I have known this area for 40 years. Back then the acres of grass were constantly being mown and must have cost a fortune, albeit giving some employment.
Then the cut backs started to affect the cutbacks and the council decided to just mow the well used paths.
What a transformation! The area is now a haven for insect life and looks amazing.
The response was such that a few years ago, the council went on to set aside an area specifically for wildlife.
I’ve never heard any complaints at all and in fact, I think the area is more popular than it ever was.
I have noticed the same management in other London parks. Even Kew Gardens now leave uncut areas.
So, Bexley’s 1/5 is a little disappointing and may have more to do with the fact that somebody couldn’t be bothered to answer properly. But they can do it if they try, and they enhance an area while saving ratepayers money. Win win. Five Arches 5/5.
The sad problem is that the neat’n’tidy brigade not only vote in higher numbers, but, even in the rare cases when councils will reach down into their pockets and find a backbone, they’ll form their own private citizens committees to go out and strim and cut everything on their own. In fact the more a local population pushes for rewilding, the more motivated the neat’n’tidy and fuckyou brigades will be to go out and be deliberate wreckers.
That is one of the major problems with the UK, the cult of neat and tidiness is also a cult of spite too. Cf. Brexit; social distancing; and face masks.
Sadly you’re right that some people will do what they think is right. Where I live in Inverness somebody (or maybe more than one person) has taken it upon themselves to get rid of an “obnoxious, harmful” weed i.e. ragwort. I often see plants that have been uprooted and left to die, including along the canal towpath that has some good wild flower areas. I know that ragwort is classified as a dangerous weed in law, but it is fantastic for pollinating insects and is only, possibly, harmful to livestock which aren’t found on roadside verges or canal towpaths. I wish I could see the person responsible in action and try to educate them, I might even tell them that I knowingly break the law by encouraging it in my garden.