It seems Brighton is not the only place in the U.K. being overrun with weeds, as the Mail reports that green councils across Britain are choosing to ‘rewild’ their streets. Here’s an excerpt:
Streets across Britain are being choked with weeds as councils abandon a chemical spray they claim harms wildlife.
Many roads which have been well-tended for decades have sprouted mini-jungles over the summer as some councils have stopped using the chemical glyphosate and say other treatments are less effective.
Other councils blame the rainy summer, which restricted spraying, and admit they stopped weeding to cut costs.
Yet middle class homes have been hit by huge hikes in council tax, pushing the average Band D bill above £2,000 a year.
Some fed-up residents have formed their own weeding patrols.
“These plants taking over feels like a scene from The Day of the Triffids,” said Yvonne Wright, who has formed a Civic Pride Team of pensioners to do the job of council contractors in Tottington, in Bury, Greater Manchester.
They use their gardening tools to eradicate the weeds.
Ms. Wright said: “Our town used to look fantastic but the spread of weeds has been dreadful. There’s a lot of anger because people have highly rated homes for council tax.” …
Cambridgeshire County Council said it is “supporting the natural environment” and reducing running costs while Suffolk insisted it is spraying urban areas but using low-toxicity acetic acid, described as less efficient but more environmentally friendly than glyphosate. …
In Bath’s Georgian streets, homeowner Janice Legge weeds her entire pavement.
“The council is not interested because it is calling it the ‘rewilding of Bath’,” she said. “But that should not mean pavements.”
Bath and North East Somerset Council said it has stopped using glyphosate in “response to the climate and ecological emergency”.
Worth reading in full.
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