Verge spraying St Stephens

The request was partially successful.

William Rowlandson

Dear Kent County Council,

Dear Canterbury City Council,

Please would you let us know:
1) what has been sprayed on all the verges and borders in the St Stephens area.
2) what assessment was carried out into the affect on children's health?
3) what assessment was carried out into the affect on pets?
4) what assessment was carried out into the affect on wildlife - eg birds, insects, small mammals, etc?
5) what alternatives were considered?
6) what was the cost?

Yours faithfully,

Dr William Rowlandson, St Stephens resident and University of Kent

Kent County Council

Dear Dr Rowlandson

 

Thank you for your email below.

 

Kent County Council acknowledges your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Assuming KCC holds this information, we
will endeavour to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later
than 13^th April 2017 (20 working days from date of receipt).

 

We will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/17/0507 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

 

Best regards

 

Carly Wattle | Information Access Officer | Information Resilience &
Transparency Team | Kent County Council | Room 2.71, Sessions House,
Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | Phone 03000 417061 | Fax 03000 420303 | 
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
|

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

show quoted sections

Kent County Council

Dear Dr Rolandson,

 

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) 2000, regarding verge spraying in the St Stephens
area. I am pleased to provide the response below:

 

Last year Kent County Council’s Highways Department carried out two
programmed weed control treatments on the hard surface of the road and
footpath; between mid-May to end of July and between September to October.
This includes the kerb line, paved footpaths, rear of footpath against
hard objects (walls / fences) and around traffic islands and roundabouts.
We did not carry out any treatments to soft sites (grass areas and shrub
beds) in the St Stephens area in 2016. We shall be carrying out two
programmed treatments on hard surfaces in 2017; in May to mid-June and
September to mid-October.

 

1)    What has been sprayed on all the verges and borders in the St
Stephens area?

In Canterbury District we used the glyphosate products Kernel and Roundup
ProVantage. Glyphosate is commonly used by local authorities and is
available to the general public in most garden centres, DIY sheds,
hardware shops, larger supermarkets and through a range of internet
suppliers.

 

2)    What assessment was carried out into the effect on children's
health?

All pesticides we use are approved for use in the UK by CRD (Chemicals
Regulation Directorate), DEFRA and EU Regulations and comply with the
Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012, The Food and
Environment Protection Act 1985 and The Control of Pesticides Regulations
1986 and other pertinent legislation. Each year we check the products our
contractors use remain licensed for use.

3)    What assessment was carried out into the effect on pets?

Please see the above response to question (2).

 

4)    What assessment was carried out into the effect on wildlife - eg
birds, insects, small mammals, etc?

Please see the above response to question (2).

 

5)    What alternatives were considered?

Kent County Council worked with DEFRA, East Malling Research, University
of Hertfordshire, Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive
on a five year research project in Thanet from 2010 on Integrated and
Non-chemical Amenity Hard Surface Weed Control. Information on the project
can be found here:
[1]http://www.emr.ac.uk/projects/developmen...

 

6)    What was the cost?

We do not have the cost of the treatment specifically for the St Stephens
Area of Canterbury. However, the cost for Canterbury City as a whole,
including the St Stephens area, for both treatments in 2016 was £8,684.

 

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/17/0507.

 

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner’s website [3]http://www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Jemila Dodge | Information Access Officer | Information Resilience &
Transparency Team | Kent County Council | Room 2.71, Sessions House,
Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | Phone: 03000 416034 |
[4]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
|

 

show quoted sections