Green spaces go herbicide free

Conscious of the need to reduce, replace, and where possible completely eliminate the use of herbicides, Council has committed to significantly reducing herbicide usage across all borough green spaces over the next three years.

The mayor, councillor Maureen Morrow said: “Keen to improve our environment for wildlife and human health and wellbeing, we have committed to significantly reducing herbicide usage over the next three years.

“I would encourage public support for this initiative and hope residents will accept some areas looking a little more wild than usual.”

Council has pointed out that herbicide-free urban meadows and grasslands may seem a little untidy, but are, in fact, a haven for important insects such as bees and butterflies and other wildlife - stating: ‘Why not consider going herbicide free in your own garden or allotment?’.

Council aims to provide education around organic gardening as part of this programme and some tips can be found on its website:www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/biodiversity. The local authority says it may continue to use herbicides for the control of invasive species across the borough, until greener alternatives are found.

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you

https://www.newsletter.co.uk