Draft Agricultural Chemical Use in Public Places Policy
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Consultation has now concluded.
This new policy is aimed at providing the community with a clear understanding of Council’s practices regarding the use of chemicals in public places.
Council use a variety of both domestic and commercially available chemicals in its management of parks, sports fields, trees, cemeteries and roadside vegetation management. They are used in a variety of tasks including general vegetation management on roadsides and parks, selective weed management on sports fields, and targeted pest control of European wasps and termites.
Chemical use is often the last resort when other preventative measures have been unsuccessful, and intervention is needed to avoid significant asset damage or public risk. They are used according to the instructions for use on the label, by qualified staff or contractors and within current legislative frameworks, which includes a notification plan and strict record keeping.
Principles of the policy
Council will:
Continue to actively reduce its chemical use in public places;
Trial, and where suitable, adopt chemical free alternatives;
Over time aim to gradually phase out glyphosate in parks and roadsides;
Use natural alternatives where practical e.g. heavy mulch;
Preference chemical free wasp traps as a wasp management tool;
Only treat termite and ant nests where there is a direct threat to public safety.
Clause 6.4 in the policy states ‘Council will wherever feasible, avoid the use of glyphosate based products in public places and systematically eliminate the use of glyphosate from its operations when alternate approved methods become available.’
Submissions on the draft policy are open until close of business Friday 24 November 2023.
Privacy: Submissions with the author’s name and contact details will be provided to Councillors for consideration. However, names and contact information will be removed when the submissions are included in public documents such as Council Business Papers.
This new policy is aimed at providing the community with a clear understanding of Council’s practices regarding the use of chemicals in public places.
Council use a variety of both domestic and commercially available chemicals in its management of parks, sports fields, trees, cemeteries and roadside vegetation management. They are used in a variety of tasks including general vegetation management on roadsides and parks, selective weed management on sports fields, and targeted pest control of European wasps and termites.
Chemical use is often the last resort when other preventative measures have been unsuccessful, and intervention is needed to avoid significant asset damage or public risk. They are used according to the instructions for use on the label, by qualified staff or contractors and within current legislative frameworks, which includes a notification plan and strict record keeping.
Principles of the policy
Council will:
Continue to actively reduce its chemical use in public places;
Trial, and where suitable, adopt chemical free alternatives;
Over time aim to gradually phase out glyphosate in parks and roadsides;
Use natural alternatives where practical e.g. heavy mulch;
Preference chemical free wasp traps as a wasp management tool;
Only treat termite and ant nests where there is a direct threat to public safety.
Clause 6.4 in the policy states ‘Council will wherever feasible, avoid the use of glyphosate based products in public places and systematically eliminate the use of glyphosate from its operations when alternate approved methods become available.’
Submissions on the draft policy are open until close of business Friday 24 November 2023.
Privacy: Submissions with the author’s name and contact details will be provided to Councillors for consideration. However, names and contact information will be removed when the submissions are included in public documents such as Council Business Papers.
