Weed clearing initiative tidies up Ripon rooflinesCouncil to spray weeds in Harrogate after business complaintCouncil criticised for leaving ‘scorched earth’ rings around Stray trees

Harrogate Borough Council has been criticised for spraying weed-killing chemicals around trees on the Stray leaving ‘scorched earth’ rings around them.

From UCI cycling to litter and rewilding, no topic exercises Harrogatonians quite like the Stray.

The latest debate involves the council’s approach to managing weeds on the 200-acre parkland which has troubled environmentalists and led to criticism on social media.

The council recently sprayed glyphosate around the base of almost every tree, bin and bench. It’s the most widely used pesticide in history but its use is controversial.

Exposure to glyphosate has been linked to poor health and several UK councils have pledged to stop or limit its use due to its negative impact on the environment.

Shan Oakes, Harrogate & District Green Party co-ordinator, criticised HBC for using the pesticide and said “we have to stop poisoning the planet”.

“It looks horrible. It doesn’t look good, so why do you need to tidy up vegetation around trees? Greenery looks better than scorched earth.

“We need plants wherever we can put them, nature doesn’t know about so-called weeds.

“We need to stop removing every little weed and so on, we have to think about bees and all the rest of the wildlife. We depend on nature.”

Rewilding row

This year, the council’s parks team has again left grass verges close to the roadside on West Park Stray uncut until late autumn to improve biodiversity.

But at least one tree has been sprayed with glyphosate in the middle of a grass verge that has been left to ‘rewild’.

Ms Oakes said the example was “an absolute contradiction”. She added:

“It’s like the plastic grass fiasco, they have not got their head around a different approach to gardening. Rewilding means a different kind of management.”

Judy d’Arcy Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association, took a more pragmatic approach to weed-killing on the Stray.

She said the council “presumably have their reasons” for spraying the chemicals but added weeds can give the Stray an unsightly appearance.

On rewilding, she said the verges have been used as a dumping ground for litter and dog waste.

“All those that love the wilding, there are those that hate it.

“Its a very difficult situation. It can look good and we must help the bee population. I’m down the middle on it. It’s an emotive subject, people get wound up about it.”

Read more:

Council’s response

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson explained why it has been using the weed-killer on the Stray.

“Twice a year, weeds around path edges and the bases of trees, bins and other street furniture are sprayed with glyphosate.

“When applied – through a lance which produces droplets directly onto the weeds – it is instantly absorbed and kills the weed quickly. Any brown grass should grow back in the following months.

“This is kept to a minimum and only used because our lawnmowers are unable to cut close enough. It also means we’re not constantly strimming, using hoes or pulling out weeds by hand, allowing us to spend more time maintaining our parks and opens spaces across the Harrogate district.

“Understandably, weeds are favoured by some and are an eyesore to others. So we have to strike a balance to ensure all residents can enjoy the district.

“And we are constantly reviewing, trialling and amending our work practices to ensure we are working towards a sustainable environment.

“We actively encourage many areas to grow naturally and leave several areas from being cut as regularly; the Stray in Harrogate, Jacob Smith Park in Knaresborough and Quarry Moor Nature Reserve in Ripon, to name but a few. Again, some residents favour this approach and some don’t.

“We have also planted thousands of wildflowers, with the help of volunteers. As well as leaving log piles as habitats and vegetation, and adapting our formal bedding areas across the district to include more single, open flowers that are great for pollinators.

“This is a key objective for us and we have a number of schemes to enable the flora and fauna to thrive. We also continue to work in partnership with local community groups to collectively enhance the district’s wildlife and biodiversity.”

Weeds blitz in Harrogate town centre

A cleaning crew has been tacking weeds on some of Harrogate busiest shopping streets to improve the town’s appearance.

Contractors have been pulling up weeds and using herbicides for three consecutive nights on streets including Victoria Avenue, Cambridge Street, Albert Street, Crescent Road and Oxford Street.

They are acting on behalf of Harrogate Business Improvement District, which has a remit to enhance the town centre appearance.

Over the last 18 months it has also power washed pavements and street furniture, increased floral displays and brightened empty shop windows.

Matthew Chapman, manager of Harrogate BID, said town centre weeds had been a “major talking point”, adding:

“The team worked for a number of nights pulling weeds by hand, using garden tools as well as spraying them with an environmentally-safe herbicide.

“With autumn and winter just around the corner, we hope this work will mean they are kept at bay until the spring.

“For our levy payers, it’s imperative that Harrogate looks at its best at all times, and that’s what we are working hard to achieve.”

Read more:

 

‘Failure’ over weeds leaves North Yorkshire looking ‘like a jungle’

North Yorkshire County Council has been accused of a “total and utter failure” to prevent weeds from overgrowing pavements.

The county council is the highways authority, responsible for more than 9,000 kilometres of roads.

A full meeting of the council heard that residents from across North Yorkshire had voiced disbelief and anger over the volume of weeds left to grow up to two-and-a-half foot high besides roads.

The meeting heard that weeds were a problem across North Yorkshire and that more environmentally-friendly ways of killing weeds, such as hot water or steam treatments, were being used in Harrogate.

Several councillors spoke out about problems in their areas.

Councillor Helen Grant, the North Yorkshire Independent group representative for Central Richmondshire, described the standard of roads and pavements around Catterick as “appalling”.

Cllr Robert Heseltine, an independent for Skipton East, said the traditional back streets of Skipton had become “like a jungle”.

Cllr Heseltine added:

“I’ve had more complaints over this issue than I’ve had over everything else in 40-odd years of public life.”

Combine harvester needed to tackle weeds

Stokesley division Liberal Democrat member Cllr Bryn Griffiths told the meeting urgent action was needed. He said:

“I’ve got comments from residents in Tame Bridge. Their pavements look more like a green corridor for wildlife. You are probably talking about a combine harvester going around some of our estates to get the weeds out.

“What we are looking at is gullies getting blocked in future and we’ll have flooding which is entirely avoidable.”

Read more:

The meeting heard claims that the amount of weeds was also due to the authority using particularly weak weedkiller and deciding to start clearing weeds at the end of July instead of in May.

Richmond Cllr Stuart Parsons, the North Yorkshire Independents group leader, said the weed situation was “a total and utter failing”, adding:

“If the county council doesn’t get its act together soon it’s going to find itself with a massive repair bill for all the pavements.”

Mild winters

In response, the authority’s executive member for highways, Cllr Don Mackenzie, who is also the Conservative representative for Harrogate Saltergate, said he was aware that areas close to the kerbs had become “quite affected by weed growth” and the council recognised that residents wanted weeds to be dealt with.

He said an increase in weeds was being experienced throughout the country due to mild winters, reduced use of salt, less traffic and pedestrians, and the council did not want to use chemicals more than once annually due to the environmental consequences.

Councillor Mackenzie denied there had been an issue handing contracts to NY Highways, which he said was experimenting in Harrogate with other more environmentally-friendly ways of killing weeds, such as hot water or steam treatments.

After saying residents were free to spend five minutes clearing weeds from gutters, Cllr Mackenzie was accused of “smoke and mirrors” to hide the gravity of the issue and that the concerns involved some busy roads.