Dorset council declares nature emergency but does not ban weed killer

A council has declared a state of natural emergency, but this does not entail a complete ban on the use of a controversial weed killer.

A motion submitted to Dorset Council initially included a clause to stop the use of glyphosate “where possible”.

Before the full council voted in favour of the motion on Thursday, its chairman Nick Ireland proposed an amendment calling for a “commitment to a plan to reduce glyphosate”.

Declaring a natural emergency means that the Council is committed to taking natural recovery into account in future decisions.

Mr Ireland said: “The glyphosate issue was the most controversial section and led to a thorough discussion.”

“The wording has therefore been changed to make it clear that Dorset’s green space teams and street plantation owners are reluctant to use the herbicide. As soon as genuine alternatives are available, we will implement them.”

“I know we need to get rid of glyphosate, but there are uses where we cannot avoid it completely – Japanese knotweed is one of them.

“I would like to believe that we will have eradicated it completely by the end of this Liberal Democrat government’s term, but at the moment that is impossible.”

Conservative councillor Louie O’Leary said declaring a climate emergency was a “virtuous gesture from a hypocritical, chattering class that wants to feel better in the morning with a slice of avocado on toast and a soya latte”.

The majority of Council members supported the declaration: 54 voted in favour of adopting the motion, 20 voted against and four abstained.