Any sign of 50% reduction in the amount of weedkiller sprayed in Milton Keynes? Not yet …..
7th May 2026
Dear supporters of our Pesticide free Milton Keynes petition,
Good news locally :-
Professor Klaus-Dieter Rossade, sponsor for sustainability at the Open University in Milton Keynes, gives our Pesticide free Milton Keynes petition his personal backing.
The new MKCC pesticides policy stipulates NO spraying around the base of trees.
The Parks Trust has committed to NO spraying around the base of trees and clusters of trees. (The area under the canopies will be left un-mown all summer - a huge win for biodiversity and wildlife).
The Parks Trust is engaging positively with our Pesticide free Milton Keynes campaign group (4 meetings to date) and I have my first meeting with Milton Keynes City Council scheduled for 18 May.
Good news nationally :-
Cornwall County Council’s plan to reintroduce the spraying of weedkiller was firmly squashed by the public outcry from residents, medical professionals, wildlife groups - even the local Labour councillors opposed the plan. (Which begs the question - Why didn’t the Labour Council in Milton Keynes back our campaign for a Pesticide free Milton Keynes? They didn’t even support our amendment to take out the option of spraying on children’s playgrounds ….)
So what is happening on the ground in Milton Keynes? Any signs of the promised 50% reduction?
Since mid March, nearly every time you leave the house you see either a mini spraying tractor in action or an operator with a backpack of poison and a wand in his hand and the yellow tell tale signs of recent spraying of herbicides are everywhere.
This is what I have personally seen in the last 2 months :-
Children playing on areas which have been sprayed in my local school, Loughton School
Playgrounds sprayed (Tattenhoe, Loughton and Stony Stratford)
Large areas sprayed in preparation for wildflower seed sowing (Loughton Valley Park)
Gorse bushes sprayed (Stonepit Field)
Community wildflower beds sprayed (Loughton)
Huge areas sprayed under underpasses (Childsway)
Shrub beds sprayed which have never been sprayed before (Tattenhoe Valley Park, Loughton)
Hedge lines sprayed which also have never been sprayed before.
So we have a long way to go…..
Apparently this summer, the government is launching a consultation about spraying pesticides in urban spaces. I hope very much that the Integrated Pesticide Management Frameworks will be ditched - from what I have seen, if there is an option to spray included in the plan, for example, here in Milton Keynes playgrounds, the spraying continues.
If nature is to recover and the risk of spraying to human health significantly reduced :-
We urgently need a national ban on the spraying of herbicides in our villages, towns and cities, like in France.
We urgently need a ban on the retail sale of weedkillers, like in Germany.
I hope very much that the wildlife experts will unequivocally respond to the consultation with a firm NO to spraying in built up areas. ie the Wildlife Trusts, Plantlife, Buglife, the Soil Association, Butterfly Conservation etc.
As for the risks of spraying herbicides to human health, Parkinson’s UK gave our Pesticide free Milton Keynes petition its immediate and strong support.
We urgently need other medical groups, eg Cancer Research UK, Blood Cancer UK, our leading haematology professors, to respond with an unequivocal NO to spraying in built up areas.
Local campaign groups, such as Pesticide free Milton Keynes and Pesticide free Wyre Forest, need the strong backing of the wildlife and medical experts!
Please sign and share the Pesticide free Wyre Forest petition :- https://c.org/9ywQLVGCwp
Thank you for your support. This is a long and difficult campaign but we will not give up!
Judith Heinemann