Highland Council's weedkiller use in Inverness sparks local concerns
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HOUSEHOLDERS have hit out at Highland Council’s use of weedkiller in their neighbourhoods.
The local authority has come under criticism for spraying instead of strimming.
A resident posed a question on an online community forum, asking if he was “the only one disgusted by the council’s decision to weedkill instead of strim this year?”
It picked up a line of angry comments with one woman replying: “I just hope they haven’t killed my lovely rasps - their roots go underneath my fence.”
Health concerns relating to the council’s choice of weedkiller have been raised by a leading local environment campaigner.
But a council spokeswoman said the use of weedkillers instead of strimmers stemmed from a budget cost-cutting decision taken in February.
Residents who raised the gripe said the increased use of weedkiller was spoiling the look of areas previously considered among “the best kept in Inverness”.
Pictures taken by the Inverness Courier around the King Brude and General Booth Road area show the spraying extends to grass edges, along the sides of paths, and around trees, signs and fences.
One commentator told the Facebook community forum: “I actually phoned the council because I thought there was some kind of infection in the grass. It just looks so odd – but that’s decisions by the council’s top brass for you. What a mess!”
Someone else raised concerns for their dog, saying: “All the dogs were snuffling in the grass every day. Was it rain, dew or weed killer? If so, all the dogs must have nosed in it.”
The council decided, when setting its budget earlier this year, to spray rather than strim grass edges. It hopes the move, which aims to reduce grass cutting by five per cent and has removed five full time-equivalent jobs, will help to meet a £115,000 savings target in grounds maintenance.
However, Anne Thomas, Green Party issues co-ordinator for the Black Isle Greens, and co-ordinator Friends of the Earth in Inverness and Ross, was “horrified”.
She said: “The World Health Organisation has pronounced that Roundup is “probably carcinogenic”. As a bee-keeper any herbicide used would be a complete nightmare. Bees are already struggling.”
A council spokeswoman said: “We are spraying housing area open spaces on behalf of our housing department – footpaths, internal paths and car parks – in response to a number of complaints received with regard to the lack of weedkilling.
“The chemicals we have used are Roundup and Chikara.”
