City of Rockingham presses on with trial to reduce glyphosate use despite cost warning

The City of Rockingham council is expanding plans to reduce its use of herbicides in weed control despite staff warning it could increase costs by up to 40 times.

In March, the council voted to consider moving away from glyphosate weedkillers in and around its playgrounds and replace them with non-toxic options after a resolution from its annual electors meeting.

At its April 28 meeting, the council voted unanimously in favour of a proposal from Cr David Rudman that it trial steam weeding, thermal control and plant-based herbicides to reduce its use of glyphosate across the city.

Cr Rudman said there were concerns about the health risks from glyphosate and claimed it had been linked to health problems.

“Yes, protect the children, but let’s protect the adults as well,” he said.

“Let’s make this comprehensive and take steps to cease the use of this far from benign herbicide permanently.”

He said the City of Fremantle used glyphosate only when other methods were not effective or practical.

A staff report to the council said the city had previously trialled alternative weed control methods, including thermal treatments and plant-based herbicides, but they were not viable and chemical herbicides were “necessary”.

Thermal weed control trials by other local governments had also found “real limitations”, including how much they cost and how long they took.

“Due to the specialised nature of the equipment, thermal weed control would need to be undertaken by external contractors,” the report said.

“In contrast, chemical weed control is currently performed by both city staff and contractors, providing greater operational flexibility.”

It also said plants that were treated could only appear dead and the thermal treatment could stimulate weed growth.

There were also limitations with plant-based herbicides, including their effectiveness and how often they needed to be reapplied, and they cost 14 to 41 times more than glyphosate.

“There is a need to carefully balance environmental considerations, public expectations, cost and operational effectiveness when evaluating weed management approaches for municipal use,” the report said.

Mayor Lorna Buchan said there needed to be a balance between weed control and the use of glyphosate, which she said was available to buy at shops.

“We get many complaints about amenity, weeds, verges, weeds here, weeds there ... and there are trials taking place at WALGA,” she said.

“I think it will be useful to do our own trials based here in Rockingham because we don’t know where these other trials will be taking place and I think it’s important that our community see us responding to their concerns.”

Cr Dawn Jecks said glyphosate use had been the “top issue” raised with her by residents over the past five years.

“I know it’s not going to be cheap, I know it’s not going to be easy,” she said. “It’s not going to be overnight but residents expect movement on this.”

Then-councillor Craig Buchanan said it was the fourth time in about six years the council had discussed glysophate.

“In many other western countries, this has been tackled with much more alacrity than has been the case here in Australia,” he said.

“I think anything that reduces our use of glyphosate, even if it’s only one park or one garden, is a good thing.”

Cr Leigh Liley said there were good arguments to restrict the use of glyphosate but warned steam control for a local government the size of Rockingham would cost an “absolute fortune”.

Cr Kelly Middlecoat and deputy mayor Robert Schmidt said they would rather tolerate a few extra weeds than risk public health.

The staff report said all glyphosate-based products used by the city were approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which had said glyphosate was unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans when used according to approved guidelines.

It said low-to-moderate toxicity products were prioritised and used in “targeted” techniques.

“These measures include application only under suitable weather conditions, the use of low-drift nozzle technology and appropriate spray pressures, and the application of targeted techniques such as spot spraying and shielded application,” it said.

“Application equipment is regularly calibrated and maintained, and operators are appropriately trained to ensure accurate and controlled application.”

The city currently uses a variety of weed control methods, including mechanical and manual, as well as turf and landscape management.

The city is a member of the WA Local Government Association integrated weed management working group, which investigates and assesses weed management options.

In March, the Shire of Broome rejected a petition to make Broome “pesticide free”.