Mr Bruce asserts in his letter, that Island Roads has ‘bowed to minority pressure’ in reintroducing the use of systemic herbicide (glyphosate) to control weeds on Island roads and pavements.

I would suggest that Island Roads has accepted that manual control of weeds, as trialled last year, is expensive, labour-intensive, and ineffective.

This should concern all council-tax payers.

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Last year, when widespread weed growth (some up to knee-high) appeared in our streets and pavements, forcing cracks in tarmac and causing extensive damage as well as a trip hazard, we saw gangs of Island Roads workers deployed to clear the weeds.

This they did, through slow and laborious work, but roots were not killed and the weeds sprang up again in a matter of weeks.

Already this year, because roots were not killed, weeds are already forcing their way through more cracks in tarmac on roads and pavements, causing further damage and again posing a trip hazard.

As the weeds continue to grow, so the cracks widen, allowing rain in and eventually costly repairs are required.

It appears the only cost-effective way of successfully eradicating weeds in our streets is systemic herbicide, which of course should be applied in a controlled way to avoid run-off, and ideally when weeds are not flowering to minimise harm to insects.

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