Last year, after numerous representations, we decided to end the use of Glyphosate for controlling the Fore Street weeds. When we took this decision, we were aware that other commercial weed control methods were difficult to come by but we felt that the level of public opinion against glyphosate rendered the continued use by our contractor unsupportable. Such weeding as did take place last year, was done manually by volunteers.
At the recent Community Event, I sought the opinion of the people present. It was clear that there was a strong majority in favour of keeping pavements in Fore Street weed and grass free and that the meeting was happy to use a chemical agent (excluding glyphosate) to achieve this. Unfortunately, our continued search for alternatives, including seeking Cornwall Council’s guidance, remains unsuccessful. Your Parish Council would be prepared to instruct a contractor to chemically control the weeds but don’t believe that option is actually available to us.
Therefore, the only workable option for now is to manually weed Fore Street. This is not a particularly time-consuming task but it was handled by a very limited number of volunteers last year and we would very much like to increase the numbers that we can call on when a work party is convened.
So, to those of you who are passionate about keeping Fore Street weed free, please contact us so we can call on you for weeding working parties.
It is important to remember that the Parish Council is only responsible for the weeds and grasses growing where the pavement joins the highway. Growth between the pavement and the house or walled front gardens is the householder’s responsibility.