This week saw local cafe and community hub, One Sixty, packed out with concerned residents all wanting to hear more about the threat glyphosate, the council’s weedkiller of choice, poses to human health and biodiversity. An expert in his field, Nick Moles, of Pesticide Action Network UK, delivered a keynote speech detailing our over reliance on glyphosate.
Widely banned in Canada, Brazil and Australia, residents were shocked to hear the World Health Organisation concluded, in 2015, that glyphosate was a probable carcinogen; meaning it causes cancer. At particular risk are children, the elderly and dogs who come into direct contact with it whilst out walking.
The weed killer is used routinely, in Burnley, to treat weeds in our schools, towns, parks and children’s play areas.
But from bleak news at the outset, an excited buzz of hope spread through the crowd as they learned about viable alternatives and the various town’s and cities, all over the world, who have successfully implemented a glyphosate ban. From Paris to Glastonbury, feed back has been positive and residents are enjoying healthier, more natural spaces with bees, butterflies and important pollinators returning.
Organiser, and Burnley Green councillor, Andy Fewings, shared the news he and his Trinity colleague, Councillor Sarah Hall, had proposed a motion to the council, calling for a ban the routine use of glyphosate across Burnley borough.
The motion will be debated at the next Full Council meeting, Wed 10th July, at 6:30pm. Residents are encouraged to attend and to contact their ward councillor to make their feelings on the use of glyphosate known.