We have been celebrating after Leicester City Council agreed to stop spraying herbicide in and around children’s play areas!
As you'll know if you read this blog regularly, we have been campaigning for the city’s parks to go pesticide-free for five years. In that time, the Council have reduced the amount of spraying and they have been looking at alternatives, but they haven't stopped using glyphosate. Towards the end of 2025, we contacted Councillors Geoff Whittle and Vi Dempster to express our concerns about the continued use of glyphosate near to where children are playing. The Global Glyphosate Study, which involves scientists from Europe and the US, found that levels of the chemical previously considered to be 'safe' caused multiple types of cancer in test animals. One of the researchers stated: "The findings from this carefully conducted study...[are] a powerful reminder of human infants’ great vulnerability to toxic chemicals". Children are more vulnerable to pesticide poisoning because their skin is more permeable.
We also shared research showing that glyphosate harms bees’ digestive systems and damages their ability to keep their colonies cool, which can be devastating in our increasingly hot summers.
We met with Councillor Whittle and a council officer in December to explain our concerns about glyphosate endangering Leicester’s children. The journal article that had previously been used to claim that glyphosate was safe was retracted by the publisher last year, because they discovered that the company that makes glyphosate had been involved in the research. As with tobacco and fossil fuels, the companies who make this product have been trying to hide the harm that it is doing.
The City Council took some time to consider our suggestion and then they got in touch in January to let us know they have agreed and will stop spraying in and around the play areas this year. We are delighted that they listened and made this decision - we celebrated with cookies at our last meeting! We hope that they will take this opportunity to leave more wild edges in the city’s green spaces.
We are also encouraging gardeners across Leicestershire to stop spraying, to protect everybody’s health and to help wildlife. You can pledge to go pesticide-free in your garden here. We are planning to create a map of pesticide-free gardens using the postcodes of those who have taken the pledge.
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