Council to consider use of more toxic agrichemicals

Tauranga Council will vote today on amendments to a Vegetation Management policy.

Tauranga City Council will today vote on whether to add four new agrichemicals to its Toxic Agrichemicals for Vegetation Management policy.

The council's Strategy and Policy Committee will today look into adding Banvine, Pendi-Pro, Organic Interceptor, and Organic Weedfree and Weedenz to the policy. Council staff have recommended that councillors reject Pendi-Pro and adopt the other three.

This went against the recommendation of the Toxic Agrichemical Advisory Forum which did not want Banvine included in the policy.

The forum claimed the chemical was considered highly toxic and there were less toxic options available.

The forum did not want Pendi-Pro added to the policy because of its potential for skin contact for people using sportsfields, an opinion shared by council staff.

Agrichemicals are used on sportsfields, parks and neighbourhood reserves, dunes, and the Historic Village, and when the chemicals are being used there are strict rules about when and where they can be used, how the spraying is carried out and what signage needs to be displayed.

In most cases, the council prefers to use non-chemical methods to manage vegetation such as mowing, weedeating, hand weeding, mulching and using sheep to graze land.