Content

10.1

As per item 8 of the
Decision taken by the Cooperative Executive on 22 September 2021,
the Cooperative Executive resolved to agree that a further report
detailing the outcomes of the Council’s trials in reducing
the usage of Glyphosate be brought to a future meeting for
consideration. This Reports brings those outcomes to the
Committee’s attention.

 

 

10.2

RESOLVED
UNANIMOUSLY: That the Waste and Street
Scene Policy Committee:-
 

1.    
agrees to the continuation of the city-wide
reduction in the use of Glyphosate where viable until December
2025, pending central government guidance and/or legislation on the
use of pesticides in the public realm and to bring a further report
to committee once that guidance and/or legislation has been
published;
 

2.    
agrees to implement a suite of educational and informational
measures as to what citizens can do to help the Council in
delivering a weed free environment to be implemented when
seasonally relevant, until December 2025; and
 

3.    
requests that a report be brought back to the
Committee in February 2024 setting out options for phasing out the
use of Glyphosate.

 

 

10.3

Reasons for Decision

 

 

10.3.1

Approval of the recommendations will
allow:
 

·      
A continuous reduction in the use of glyphosate in highway areas
across all of Sheffield.
 

·      
The opportunity to work with residents in various areas of the city
to promote awareness and encourage action in line with the Nature
Emergency outcomes. This will achieve an important step in the
city’s response to the declared Nature Emergency.
 

·      
Alignment with the timescales for further central government
guidance and/or legislation and future licensing of information on
the future licensing of Glyphosate.

 

 

10.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

 

 

10.4.1

The option to ‘do
nothing’ was considered and discounted considering both the
declaration of a Nature Emergency and the support received for the
petition against the use of Glyphosate.

 

 

10.4.2

The option to cease the use of
Glyphosate on all land immediately was considered but discounted
due to high level of cost/expenditure. Sheffield has 1,064,045.03
square metres of high usage footways and 8,77,757.67 square metres
of lower use footways in the city.
 
Based on a “worst case
scenario” of around 10% of the footway network failing
between 2023 and 2037 due to weeds and vegetation this is estimated
to cover around £116 million pounds in resurfacing.
 
Additional Street Cleansing Costs
have also been modelled based on 42 additional operatives,
additional road sweepers, and other vehicles, and plant machinery
being brought into the operation to uplift street cleansing service
to manually remove weeds has also been costed at around £2.4
million per year – circa £32 million over the remainder
of the PFI contract.
 
Therefore, the total potential cost
implication of complete cessation in a worst-case scenario could be
as high as £150 million of additional expenditure. This may
however be mitigated should there be a legislative change.