Camden Council has said it will keep the use of controversial weedkiller Glyphosate under review, but stopped short of vowing to ban it altogether.
A deputation by former Green Party candidate Kirsten de Keyser asked Camden to stop using the weedkiller, also known as Roundup.
She told the full council meeting on Monday. “We know that we need to eliminate toxic substances where we can. In 2015, the WHO said that it is probably carcinogenic.”
She also told the meeting that an elderly friend of hers had recently died from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He had worked as a groundsman for a local authority and had used the weedkiller.
“Camden is spraying gallons around the borough, with who knows what consequences.”
Hammersmith and Fulham council has already changed its weedkiller. Leader of the opposition, Cllr Oliver Cooper told the meeting that it was Camden Tory’s policy to stop using Glyphosate.
Ms de Keyser handed over a petition against the move, which had 905 signatures.
Camden’s environment chief, Cllr Adam Harrison, said: “This is something we are keeping under review, and we want to root our policy making in hard evidence. Cost is not something that should be a barrier.”
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