City of York Council’s environment chief said she does not want to put a timetable on plans to reduce the use of a controversial weedkiller.

Cllr Paula Widdowson has been under pressure to cut glyphosate use after the council committed to phasing it out earlier this year.

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A number of studies have concluded that the herbicide could be hazardous to bees and other insects.

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Labour’s Cllr Kallum Taylor asked Cllr Widdowson at her decision session: “The commitment to phase out pesticides – just as in February – is still effectively meaningless.

“Why, after nearly a year, is there no plan with timescales attached?”

A ‘weed pilot’ has taken place this year, which allowed ward councillors to opt out of some of the glyphosate treatments during 2022.

Councillors in those wards said there hadn’t been any detrimental impact, but council officers said there were “noticeably less weeds in those wards which received three sprays compared to two”.

Cllr Widdowson praised the “great” trial, but said she wanted it to continue to gather more information.

She added: “We are not making any decisions without facts, numbers and reports.

“I would be loath to put a timetable into reduce until we’ve concluded the trial next year.

“The trial will be for ward councillors to opt out of either the second or the third spray. And they can choose which one they think fits best in their ward because they know it.

“I’m hopeful that the councillors will do this in consultation with their residents.”

Cllr Taylor also urged Cllr Widdowson to test out lower glyphosate usage in her ward of Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, which has not yet taken part. Eight wards out of a possible 21 did so in 2022.

Anti-glyphosate campaigners have pointed to other UK councils which claim to have banned it, but Coun Widdowson said their research had shown it is not so clear-cut.

She said: “Some of the places that are quoted to us that are using less glyphosate than us are not, they’re using more. And a couple of places that cut it out have reinstated it because of the effect that letting weeds grow on public highways has had.”

While some European countries have banned its use, the European Commission extended its EU authorization until the end of 2023 earlier this month.

Cllr Widdowson also agreed that the council should stop using the chemical spray around trees within the highway verge as it has been shown to have little impact and will reduce in-house usage of glyphosate by up to ten per cent.