Glyphosate in our cities!

Success in halting the spraying of Glyphosate in our cities!

Residents of The Nottingham Park Estate, a private housing estate of over 1500 homes in the centre of Nottingham, have been campaigning for several months to deter their Board of Directors from spraying the chemical glyphosate on their roads and green spaces. Glyphosate, is the active ingredient of many weed killers including the popular Roundup.

The Park Estate management finally succumbed to the residents demands and halted the imminent spraying.

The Park is a Conservation Area with a strong ‘green’ policy and residents successfully argued for a more environmentally friendly approach. They turned out in force to hand weed the area prior to the nationally acclaimed ‘Park Garden Trail’.

It was sickness in residents and their dogs which first alerted the area to the potential danger, breathing difficulties amongst residents following the spraying of any weed killer that has glyphosate as its active ingredient together with the decimation of private gardens caused by the drift is believed by residents to have an immediate connection.

Brenda Argyle, Park resident, said “The chemical ingredient glyphosate which is contained in Roundup has very controversial credentials. Many countries have begun to ban it – Holland, France, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Colombia and parts of the USA and Canada. The World Health Organisation consider it to be a ‘probable carcinogenic’.

Park Director Thiago Carvalho, who was influential in lobbying for this change said, “It is my job as a Park director to listen to our residents, and that’s what we did. I am pleased that we have discontinued the use of any weed killer that contains glyphosate. In our daily lives we are already exposed to so many substances harmful to our health that I am pleased we have stopped, at least on our own doorstep, the addition of this chemical that has such questionable credentials.

Christine Brooke, Park resident and community campaigner said, “We have successfully raised awareness of this issue in our own immediate environment. The question now is what methods are used in other places in the city and in our local parks and green spaces to control weeds? It is an issue that is relevant to us all, but of particular concern to parents of young children, the elderly and pet owners”.

There have been many demonstrations throughout the world campaigning for a ban and stricter controls on glyphosate. In the UK organisations such as Breast Cancer UK have come out against it. In London celebrity designers Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett have added their names to the campaign. After this pioneering initiative in the country, this success story will hopefully serve as inspiration for other cities and join forces with other groups to help them in their quest for control of their environment.