Cambridgeshire County Council to bring back chemical weed killing

Council officers apologised for the way the policy change was handled

A county council will restart chemical weed killing after it admitted it had "not got" its policy "right".

Cambridgeshire County Council stopped using chemicals last year, and said it would physically remove "hazard or nuisance" weeds.

At the time, it said the change would save £120,000 a year and reduce the use of "harmful chemicals".

But the authority has now said savings were lower than expected and it would cost to clear the backlog.

The council had hoped to cut carbon emissions however the need for officers to travel to physically remove problem weeds meant there had not been the reduction in costs hoped for.

A report published by the county council said a survey had shown that a majority of respondents were unhappy with the results of the change.

'Residents can come up with alternative plan'

It now planned to reintroduce chemical weed killing in built up village and town areas with 40mph speed limits or below, for a minimum of twice a year.

However, the authority said communities that do not want weeds to be sprayed can come forward with an alternative plan to remove weeds themselves.

At a meeting on Tuesday, council officers apologised for the way the policy change was handled and admitted the county council did not engage effectively with other councils and people in the county.

Councillor Alex Beckett, chair of the highways and transport committee, said: "I don't think we got this one right.

"It was good to be having a more targeted approach and to be doing what a lot of our communities want to do.

"I know some of our communities want less chemical weed removal, but that obviously did not quite work everywhere."