USE of glyphosate-based weed killers will resume in local public spaces.
Kingston Council workers were directed to stop using the herbicide in October 2019. Council overturned its ban on the weed killer last month.
In a statement, Kingston Council said that glyphosate will only be used to control weeds in “low-risk, low traffic locations” and that “hand weeding and steam weed control will continue to be used at playgrounds, childcare centres, preschools and maternal child health centres and high use open space areas.”
Kingston mayor Steve Staikos said “our decision to reintroduce the use of glyphosate-based products in selected low-risk areas is based on current guidance from world health and research institutions that advise products containing glyphosate can continue to be used safely in accordance with directions in the safety data sheet and labels.”
“We have been trialling the use of other weed management methods over the past few years but unfortunately they just haven’t been as effective. We have received many complaints from community members about the ineffective weed management in our open spaces,” Cr Staikos said.
Glyphosate is used in products like Roundup. Earlier this year pharmaceutical company Bayer AG announced a $US2 billion proposal to resolve future legal claims in the United States over the use of Roundup. In June 2020, Bayer announced it would settle nearly $US10 billion in lawsuits related to the use of Roundup.
Frankston Council also reneged on its glyphosate ban earlier this year (“Glyphosate to be reintroduced”, The News, 23/2/2021).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 6 October 2021