Reading Labour Kicks Glyphosate Phase-out Into The Long Grass — Again

Reading Borough Council has confirmed it has reduced its use of glyphosate weedkiller by 25% — but a Reading Liberal Democrat Councillor is warning that with no indicators, no annual reporting, and no timetable to go further, residents have no way of verifying whether that progress is real or will continue.

Cllr James Moore, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Tilehurst Ward, tabled a written question to the Council, asking for an update on weed control contracts since 2023 and whether the Council would commit to a formal, time-bound pesticide reduction plan.

The Council confirmed that since 2024 it has procured weed control annually, allowing flexibility to adopt new technologies as they become available, and that glyphosate use has been reduced by 25% through targeted treatments, reduced frequency, and avoidance of sensitive areas. It also confirmed support for bringing a further report to committee — but only when, in the Council's own words, "the evidence base has moved on."

Cllr Moore said: "The honest picture is that the Council's position has not substantially changed since it last reported on this in July 2023. There is still no phase-out plan, no timeline, and no defined trigger for when that further report will actually come forward. 'When the evidence base has moved on' is decided entirely by the Council itself — which means this could simply never happen.

"There are also no published indicators and no annual reporting on pesticide use, which means the claimed 25% reduction cannot be independently verified by residents or scrutinised by Councillors. A genuine commitment would come with measurable targets and transparent reporting — not a one-line figure in a written answer.

"The impact of this matters more in some parts of Reading than others. Residents in denser neighbourhoods with limited access to green space are more reliant on roadside verges and pavements as their immediate outdoor environment — and it is those same roadside areas where glyphosate spraying is most frequent. A proper roadmap would identify and prioritise those high-risk areas rather than treating the whole borough the same.

"Other Councils are showing the way. Edinburgh has been managing its green spaces without glyphosate since April 2024 and is on course to phase it out across all Council assets by 2026. The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham was the first Council in London to cease glyphosate use entirely, switching to hot foam and steam alternatives. Liberal Democrat-run Bath & North East Somerset has banned it outright, and Gloucester has a published reduction strategy with measured outcomes. Reading is falling behind best practices.

"This isn't just a matter of local ambition. The UK Government's own Pesticides National Action Plan 2025 explicitly requires Councils to establish timetables and targets for the reduction of pesticide use. Reading Borough Council has neither. And in June 2025, the most comprehensive study ever conducted on glyphosate — the Global Glyphosate Study — concluded that it causes multiple types of cancer even at exposure levels deemed safe by governments. The evidence base has moved on. The question is whether Reading Labour will."

Cllr Moore also submitted a further question asking the Council to confirm whether children's play areas and the area immediately surrounding them are treated as a sensitive area under the Council's integrated weed-management principles — and to commit to setting and publishing a clear minimum buffer zone around all fenced play equipment within which glyphosate will never be applied. Research from the University of California, Berkeley has linked childhood exposure to glyphosate and its breakdown product AMPA to increased risk of serious disease later in life, including liver cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Nick Mole, Policy Officer at Pesticide Action Network UK, said: "Given that every city, town and village in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and many others are managed without the use of glyphosate or other pesticides, it is perfectly valid to expect Reading to do the same. It is clearly possible. Even if going completely pesticide-free at present is not feasible, it is imperative that the use of any pesticides in areas where children can be exposed is stopped immediately."

Cllr Moore added: "Children are more vulnerable to pesticide exposure than adults. I want a simple, published commitment that no glyphosate will ever be applied within a defined distance of children's play equipment. That is a reasonable, narrow ask — and I look forward to the Council's response."