A senior councillor is set to be briefed on efforts to move away from using a controversial weed killer within East Sussex.

On Monday Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, is due to consider the results of trials aimed at finding a viable alternative to using glyphosate to maintain the county’s roads and pavements. 

The herbicide is one of the world’s most common weed killers, but its use has proven controversial due to its links with negative health impacts and harm to pollinators and other species.

Currently, the council uses glyphosate-based treatments as part of its annual weed spray, covering 1,914 miles of channels, footpaths, central reservations and traffic islands.

But, with growing pressure from campaigners calling for a ban on glyphosate, this past year has seen East Sussex County Council trialling alternatives to the controversial weed killer in some areas. 

These included the use of foam stream treatments, a move to reactive call outs in some areas and opt-out volunteer schemes, which see local residents choose take on responsibility for keeping their area clear of weeds themselves. 

It is the results of these trials which are set for consideration by Cllr Dowling. 

According to meeting papers, the foam stream trial provided several benefits above using glyphosate. These included the fact it can be used in any weather, its relative safety and simplicity and its effectiveness at removing graffiti and moss, as well as weeds.

However, it also proved to have several drawbacks. These included the need to carry out more than one application for the treatment to be successful, as well as the greater need for equipment and traffic disruption. 

The biggest drawback, however, comes in its cost. Currently, the annual weed spray costs the council somewhere in the region of £55,000 each year. An effective foam treatment (requiring three applications) would cost in excess of £919,000 to cover the same ground. 

In light of this, officers are recommending that the foam stream trial goes no further. The final decision will fall to Cllr Dowling, however.

The other trials proved more inconclusive. 

The reactive method saw council work crews remove weeds by hand in several roads in Hastings and Lewes, but only in cases where they posed a health and safety risk or potential damage to infrastructure. 

The volunteer scheme, which was also tested in several parts of Hastings and Lewes, saw local residents agree to be left out of the annual weed spray on the understanding that they would form a group to take charge of keeping the area clear themselves. They were provided with equipment, training and insurance by the council to do so.

Both schemes had benefits and drawbacks, but council officers say it would be difficult to know the long term impacts of such approaches without further study. This was partly because more time is needed to see the effects on areas not sprayed for weeds and partly because of the unusually hot summer weather resulting in slower weed growth. 

As a result, officers are recommending that Cllr Dowling agrees for the trials to continue in an effort to gather more data. 

In the meantime, the council intends to continue carrying out its annual weed spray in other parts of the county.