Managing weeds

What we're doing

Since 2019, we've been manually removing weeds. This requires a lot of time and resources, and it hasn’t been effective. 

Some streets are inaccessible to wheelchair users, parents and carers with buggies, and those with visual or mobility impairments. Roots are also breaking up footpaths and weeds are restricting drains.

We need to balance safety and accessibility for residents with protecting the city’s biodiversity. We will do this by using a controlled-droplet application of glyphosate to treat weeds across the city.

2024 was a reset year to get the city’s weed problem back under control. Following this we are reducing the use of glyphosate to the lowest level possible to maintain safe and accessible streets.

We'll also continue to explore viable alternatives as they become available. 

What the treatment involves

Controlled-droplet applications use less glyphosate than the traditional approach. You mix a reduced concentration of glyphosate with an oil which allows large droplets to be released and stick to the weeds.

This new approach is more targeted than previous application methods which release glyphosate as a pressurised mist. It enables you to get to the root of only the problem weeds. It reduces the likelihood of the mixture sticking to plants, wildlife, or other parts of the street it’s not intended to come into contact with. It’s also ‘rainfast’ within an hour, to prevent run off.

It does not produce breathable droplets.

This approach is very different to what used to happen in the city. This saw quad bikes driving up and down every street three times a year, blanket spraying regardless of how much weed growth there was.

How we decide which areas to treat

The treatment will only be applied to visible vegetation growing on hard surfaces, and not the hard surface generally.

We identify the roads we need to treat by looking at:

• existing street cleansing operations
• the extent of the problems caused by weed growth

You can use the weed management map to see which roads are being treated across the city. 

There will also be strict exclusion areas that we will not treat. These are:

• tree bases
• grass verges
• non-hard surfaced central reservations
• community gardens and orchards
• residential gardens and driveways
• Basal tree sprouts
• parks, gardens and green spaces
• small wildflowers - located away from the footway and presenting no hazard

Any streets that residents or community groups already maintain will require little or no treatment. Our Tidy Up Team can support you if you want to clear your local area.

For the benefit of biodiversity, community groups do not need to remove small wildflowers that are located away from the footway and present no hazard. However, once those plants stop flowering then they are likely to be treated with glyphosate. To avoid the need for glyphosate, groups should keep an eye on flowering plants and remove them as soon as they stop flowering.

When the treatment starts and finishes

During April, we will treat the roads in Portslade. The contractors will move east across the city, in the following order: 

• BN41
• BN3
• BN2
• BN1

We're not able to share exact details of timescales and individual roads. This is because the treatment process will be dependent on weather, resources and the progress of the work.

If there are no visible weeds on roads or pavements, then a treatment will not be done.

What residents can do to keep their streets clear

We’d like the help of residents and community groups to clear weeds so we can use as little treatment as possible. We'll only treat visible weeds on the road or pavement, so if these are kept clear then contractors will not need to apply any treatment.

The council’s Tidy Up Team can help support anyone who wants to clear their local area. They do this by supplying sacks and tools and collecting the waste.

If you’d like to get involved, complete the volunteer for the Tidy Up Team form.

Why we need to use glyphosate at all

Over the last few years, the council has tried many methods of weed removal from manual and mechanical weeding to foam-stream and hot water. We weeded double the number of pavements in 2023 than in the previous year, but this was still only 34% of our pavements.

Manual removal requires a lot of time and resources. This means there are fewer staff to focus on other cleansing issues across the city.

It also only removes growth above the surface so roots would continue to grow, and the problem will continue to get worse year on year.

At a meeting of the City Environment, South Downs & The Sea Committee on 23 January, members of the committee voted to introduce a controlled-droplet application of glyphosate to manage and remove weeds from hard surfaces.