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Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 31st January, 2023 5.30 pm

Venue: Council Chamber - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Contact: Su Booth - 07814 073884 

Items
No. Item

57.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

Members Code of Conduct – Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members must consider their interests, and act according to the following:

 

Type of Interest

You must:

 

 

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Disclose the interest; not participate in the discussion or vote; and leave the meeting unless you have a dispensation.

 

 

Other Registrable Interests (Directly Related)

OR

Non-Registrable Interests (Directly Related)

Disclose the interest; speak on the item only if the public are also allowed to speak but otherwise not participate in the discussion or vote; and leave the meeting unless you have a dispensation.

 

 

 

Other Registrable Interests (Affects)

OR

Non-Registrable Interests (Affects)

Disclose the interest; remain in the meeting, participate and vote unless the matter affects the financial interest or well-being

 (a) to a greater extent than it affects the financial interests of a majority of inhabitants of the affected ward, and

(b) a reasonable member of the public knowing all the facts would believe that it would affect your view of the wider public interest;

in which case speak on the item only if the public are also allowed to speak but otherwise not do not participate in the discussion or vote; and leave the meeting unless you have a dispensation.

 

(2)       Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(3)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received in matters under consideration.

 

58.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

Any referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda will be reported at the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no referrals received by the Committee.

 

59.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Su Booth – 07814 073884)

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted to review decisions to restrict documents.

 

60.

REPORT ON THE USE OF GLYPHOSATE FOR WEED CONTROL WITHIN BRADFORD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COUNCIL pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “V”) will be submitted to provide Members with an update on the current situation with the use of herbicide glyphosate as the primary method of weed control by the Council within the District and the potential alternative solutions and implications of reducing or stopping the use of glyphosate.

 

Recommended –

 

That in light of the demand for weed removal, the risks of no control on Highways budgets and no viable solutions without significantly increased budgets the service is recommending that Members support Solution 2 which will see a reduction in the usage of glyphosate, primarily by avoiding those areas of highest environmental sensitivity, whilst allowing for some form of weed control on the rest of the highway network.

 

(Stuart Russo – 01274 431177)

Minutes:

The report of the Interim Strategic Director, Place (Document “V”) was submitted to the Committee following a referral made from the meeting of Full Council held on 12 July 2022 that requested the Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which had recently completed work on climate emergency, green space, water management, biodiversity and single-use plastics, progress the report, which was inevitably delayed by the Covid pandemic, at its earliest opportunity.

 

That the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which was under development and incorporated the existing Strategic Action Plan for bumblebees, be sent to the Regeneration and Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee for review and feedback by members before it was adopted.

 

Officers summarised a report that updated members on the situation regarding the use of herbicide glyphosate.  Descriptions of alternative options that should be considered for when the Council must cease using glyphosate in 2025 were provided.  Officers gave a detailed report on the issues that surrounded the alternative options and the wider debate around the use of glyphosate.

 

The Committee Members were advised that the Council needed to think about financial and risk implications when taking the alternative options into consideration.

 

Officers referenced trials undertaken in Sheffield and Calderdale that tested a reduction in glyphosate usage and stated that they aimed to schedule meetings to discuss the findings.  Officers recommended that Solution 2 was the best option moving forward and added that any developing alternatives to glyphosate would be considered in the future.

 

Following the presentation of the report, the Committee sought further clarity regarding the impact glyphosate had on biodiversity and specific species of interest in Bradford and queried whether it was broad based or targeted.  Officers advised that it was targeted to plants, the active ingredient present in glyphosate did not act on animals, so it was safe.  The other issue related to the effect on pollinators as glyphosates had adverse effects on their gut (specifically bees), it also reduced the number of flowering weeds that provided food.  Fungi was also adversely affected as a result of changes to nutrient absorption leading to soil enrichment which was not a positive thing – this in turn, reduced the range and type of plants and affected water courses.

 

A Member queried whether manual weeding via community payback had been considered and if the public could be further advised about why weed growth could be beneficial to biodiversity. In response Members were informed that manual removal was slow, so it carried certain implications. Furthermore, officers acknowledged that public acceptance was a huge issue and that public views on weed growth varied across the district as there was differing opinion of how a street should look.  Community payback was still under consideration as one option.

 

It emerged during the discussion that some options could inhibit weed growth such as the use of more tarmac.  Mechanical sweeping was also a possible option, however, officers advised that this would be expensive and hence was not considered a viable option.

 

A Member asked about the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

 

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