2026 Milton Keynes - will the spraying in our estates and parks stop at long last?
Dear Pesticide free Milton Keynes supporters,
Please note my questions to Milton Keynes City Cabinet on Tuesday 4 November and their very brief answers. We have to wait for the big reveal on 3 December. Will the sight of the spraying tractors in our estates and parks be a thing of the past in 2026? Watch this space ……
Question 1 - Judith Heinemann
“One year ago, I stood here to ask cabinet what meaningful action was planned to stop the use of pesticides city wide in 2025. At that meeting, Councillor Mahendran stated the first draft of the new pesticide framework was complete, and we hoped very much to see progress in 2025. But no. The sprayers, including the spraying tractor, have been out in Loughton at least 6 times this year.
The draft Pesticides Policy will now go before Committee on 11 December, with adoption planned for early next year.
Can the Council confirm when and how our group— representing the 26,328 people who have signed our Pesticide free Milton Keynes petition — will be able to review and comment on the draft policy before it goes to Committee and will you commit to ensuring the final policy genuinely reflects community and expert input?
Response Councillor Mahendran Cabinet member for Planning and Placemaking
The papers for the scrutiny meeting will be published on 3rd December at the latest ahead of the scrutiny committee on 11 December. Members of the public will be able to register to speak at the meeting to feed into the discussion at scrutiny.
Question 2 Judith Heinemann
I’d like to remind Cabinet that our petition for a pesticide-free Milton Keynes now has the strong personal backing of Professor Antoniou from King’s College London — co-author of the Global Glyphosate Study, published in July. This study shows conclusively that exposure to glyphosate and its co-formulants, even at levels within the so-called acceptable daily intake, leads to a statistically significant increase in tumours and blood cancers.
Prior to my meeting with the Chair of the MKCC Environment Committee in August, the dossier of evidence I submitted with our petition last November was unfortunately destroyed by mistake. I understand from Democratic Services that this dossier is now being reproduced.
Can the Cabinet assure me that this evidence — which includes photographs of extensive spraying on green spaces and our research into the risks to wildlife and public health — will be shared with members of the Environment Committee, and could you confirm when this will happen?
Response Councillor Mahendran, Cabinet member for Planning and Placemaking
I am not able to confirm that. That’s not the usual method that things will be supplied to scrutiny.
If you would like to watch the recording, my questions start at 8:14
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hun7qZNFjDg
Best wishes and thank you for your support,
Judith Heinemann