Use of weed killers
Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
Can you please let me know :
1.Which make and sort of weedkiller do you use (your contractor on their quadbikes?)
2. Who / which department makes the decision which sites are to be sprayed and draws up the map with the location of all those sites?
3. Are local wildlife sites included in the program?
4. Which contractor does WBC employ?
Yours faithfully,
Birgitta Kuhlmann-Müller
Dear Ms Kuhlmann-Muller
Further to your recent Freedom of Information enquiry, please see the
requested information below:
1.Which make and sort of weedkiller do you use (your contractor on their
quadbikes?) - The product used by the contractor is called Mentor, it is
Glyphosate.
2. Who / which department makes the decision which sites are to be sprayed
and draws up the map with the location of all those sites? - The
contractor is tasked by the Council's Parks & Countryside department (on
behalf of the Highways Department) with treating weeds on the Borough's
highways and adopted alleyways. The contractor uses their own mapping
system, supplemented by the plans of the Borough's roads which were used
when this service was delivered in-house.
3. Are local wildlife sites included in the program? - No
4. Which contractor does WBC employ? - ManCoed
Yours sincerely
Lynette Paterson
Principal Information Management Officer
Wirral Council
Business Management - ICT
Treasury Building
Argyle Street
Birkenhead
Wirral
CH41 1AH
Tel: 0151 691 8201
[1][Wirral Borough Council request email]
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Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Use of weed killers'.
Your answer to my question whether local wildlife sites are included in the weedkillers spraying was "No".
In May the local wildlife site " Grange Hill" in West Kirby was sprayed although you say it wasn't included in the programme.
I met the workmen on that day and asked them where they had sprayed. They confirmed that they had just finished with Grange Hill and that I would be able to see it in 2 week's time.
The spraying has happened before on this local wildlife site.
This is clearly a contradiction to your answer.
1.How can Grange Hill apparently not be included in the scheme but still be sprayed?
2.Who initiated the spraying of Grange Hill?
3. What are the reasons at a time of massive declines of species and climate emergency?
Birgitta Kuhlmann-Müller
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/u...
Yours faithfully,
Birgitta Kuhlmann-Muller
Dear Ms Kuhlmann-Muller,
Thank you for your recent FOI submitted under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.
As previously supplied to you, Wirral Council do not Spray Grange Hill
Wildlife park. We also only use quad bikes for spray at the beaches & Golf
courses.
Senior officers contacted the spraying operatives (those who spray in the
West Kirby area) to confirm details regarding any approach from a member
of the public, i.e. the conversation you assert occurred. The contractors
do not recall such a discussion taking place.
Officers cannot assist you further in this matter unless more details are
provided, such as the location in which the contact was made (with the
spraying contractor in question), the date the conversation took place &
the time.
Mancoed, who hold the weed spraying contract with Wirral Council, keep a
record of staff locations, therefore with the additional details
requested, it may shed some light on your contention.
Once we have these details we will try & look into this matter further for
you.
I trust this satisfies your request.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of an internal review you also
have the right to complain to the information Commissioner,
[1]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
Yours sincerely,
Chelsea Dalton
Information Management Officer
Business Management - ICT
Treasury Building
Argyle Street
Birkenhead
Wirral
CH41 1AH
Tel: 0151 666 5201
[2][Wirral Borough Council request email]
PLEASE FORWARD ALL FOI RESPONSES TO [3][Wirral Borough Council request email]
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If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.
References
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2. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
3. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
Dear WBC
Thank you for your attempt to shed light on the spraying of weedkillers on Grange Hill- a local wildlife site ( which is a habitat for several protected species).
Re your comment that your weedkiller contractor Mancoed can't recall any conversation with me :
I assume that the contractor would not admit the conversation they had with me - as that might reflect badly on them.
Here are more details :
I spoke to the Mancoed spraying team during lunchtime on Thursday 23rd May 2019.
I personally met them at the little through road in Grange cemetery where Mancoed men sat on a bench to have a break – their quad bikes next to them
They responded very freely to my questions whether they had sprayed Grange Hill.
„ yes, we have just done it. You will see it in 2 weeks."
Only when they noticed that my questions became more detailed they said I should ask WBC as their employer.
I repeat what I told you before :
On 23rd May the local wildlife site " Grange Hill" in West Kirby was sprayed although you said that Grange hill isn’t included in the Programme.
The spraying has happened before on this local wildlife site.
This is clearly a contradiction to your answer.
1.How can Grange Hill apparently not be included in the scheme but still be sprayed?
2.Who initiated the spraying of Grange Hill in May 2019?
Addionally WBC area manager Christine Smyth wrote to another resident in May :
„We understand your concerns about the natural environment, however glyphosate is a licenced product Wirral Council uses, following appropriate regulations and good practice.
There is no legislation which prohibits the use of glyphosate on Sites of Biological Importance (Local Wildlife Sites).
We don’t have a programme of regular glyphosate application at Grange Hill, but we do have the capability to use it, should the need arise.
Christine Smyth
Parks and Countryside Local Area Team Leader
This is clearly a contradiction to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Birgitta Kuhlmann-Muller
Dear Ms Kuhlmann-Muller
I write further to your email of 17 July 2019, expressing dissatisfaction
with the Council’s response to your request for information relating to
the alleged use of weedkiller at Grange Hill.
Having reviewed the exchange of correspondence to date, I am satisfied
that the Council can add nothing further to the information provided. As
previously advised – Wirral Council does not and has not sprayed Grange
Hill.
The team that was spoken to was employed by a contractor, spraying the
highways. Grange Hill is not included in this spraying programme. Council
officers have inspected a tracker map attached to the back of the quad
conducting those sprayings and this confirms that the highways have been
treated, but it does not record the quad bikes as being on Grange Hill.
The legislation provides a right of access to recorded information only,
the Council cannot speculate as to the motivation of the person you spoke
to, or any possible misunderstandings.
With regards to your final point regarding Christine Smyth’s comments,
this is factually correct. Grange Hill is not part of the Street Spraying
Contract. We do not routinely spray Grange Hill, and to our knowledge,
Parks and Countryside have not had a need to spray on Grange Hill. That
said, the Council reserves the right to do so should the need arise, i.e.
if an invasive weed species such as Japanese Knotweed, was found to have
arrived/colonised the Hill.
I am satisfied that you have been provided with a full and accurate
response to your enquiry and uphold that position. No further
correspondence will be entered into on this point. If you are dissatisfied
with the response to your Internal Review then you should complain to the
Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
Yours sincerely
Lynette Paterson
Principal Information Management Officer
Wirral Council
Business Management - ICT
Treasury Building
Argyle Street
Birkenhead
Wirral
CH41 1AH
Tel: 0151 691 8201
[2][Wirral Borough Council request email]
This information supplied to you is copyrighted and continues to be
protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free
to use it for your own purposes, including any non commercial research you
are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for
example commercial publication, would require our specific permission, may
involve licensing and the application of a charge
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.
References
Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
2. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
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Gadawodd Chris anodiad ()
I have read this thread and can substantiate the claim that spraying from these quad bikes was going on in local wildlife areas as the applicant has described - how can I add my voice to Birgitta's and notify the council?
Around the same time, I noticed the quad bikes driving behind my house which backs onto the forest in Grammar School Lane, West Kirby - close to Grange Hill.
I found it disconcerting at the time - it is now even more worrying to know they were spraying Glyphosate in alleged unauthorised areas.
Please add my voice/ anecdotal evidence to the record or let me know how I can ensure it is recorded appropriately.
Kind regards,