A National ban on the use of weedkillers in our urban areas is the only way forward!

The time has come for a national ban on the spraying of weedkillers in our villages, towns and cities, in our parks, our playgrounds and in our schools.  In France the use of pesticides is banned in all built up areas so it can be done!

Our petition for a Pesticide free Milton Keynes continues to grow, today it has 26,776 signatures.  We are grateful for the positive engagement from Milton Keynes City Council and the Parks Trust which manages 6000 acres of our green space but we believe that, without a national ban, the routine spraying of our green spaces will continue.  The official HSE code of practice, the Green Flag Award guidelines, noted below, and the Integrated Pest Management Framework  - none of that is working.  If a landscape contractor has the option to spray, then in most cases they will spray.

So please take action and help us achieve this goal!

•  write to your local MP and city and town councillors and ask for their support for a national ban on the use of pesticides in our cities, towns and villages
•  write to Emma Hardy, the Minister in charge of pesticides. Send her your evidence of the spraying of weedkillers in your area and your personal arguments why the spraying has to stop.
• write to your local schools and send them the PAN resources attached below about how to manage their school grounds for biodiversity without using pesticides.
• Write to the Green Flag Award Panel and demand that no park, which routinely uses herbicides, be awarded the Green Flag status.

For your information, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) at present does not have any section in their code of practice document specific to the spraying of pesticides in urban / built up areas.  Their only reference is to Public Rights of way. My notes are copied below for your information.

Thank you all for your continued support of Pesticide free Milton Keynes.

Judith Heinemann

School Resources :- PAN UK has teamed up with Natural England and the Department of Education to feed into a short, freely available course ‘Managing School Grounds for Biodiversity’: 

https://www.pan-uk.org/managing-school-grounds-without-pesticides/

A practical policy for schools to use in order to phase out their use of pesticides: https://www.pan-uk.org/pesticide-free-schools/

Do get involved by sharing these links with your school’s headteacher, governors, groundskeepers or maintenance staff.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Code of Practice Spraying of Pesticides near children

"You should take particular care when applying pesticides near hospitals, schools, retirement homes and so on... you should assess if you need to tell the person in charge of the premises that you are going to apply pesticides and, if necessary, agree any extra precautions that you and they should take."

"Take special care when spraying near vulnerable groups such as hospitals and schools."

"Take account of any remaining risks, such as to children and pets straying into freshly treated areas. Some pesticide labels tell you to keep unprotected people and livestock out of the treated area for a specific period. Do not use these pesticides if you cannot restrict access to the site until the area is safe."

"People or animals may be at risk until the spray has dried. Make sure you avoid such risks."

This is especially relevant where children are present in parks or other public open spaces during spraying.

Official source:

HSE Code of Practice for Using Plant Protection Products
HSE FAQ – Concerns about the use of pesticides

Green Flag Award

The Green Flag Award guidance is equally clear:

"In the interests of protecting the health of users and staff on the site, pesticides and chemical fertilisers should not be used. Minimal use may be acceptable as part of an Integrated Pest Management strategy."

It also states:

"Children in particular are more susceptible... they are more directly in contact with sprayed areas such as playgrounds, parks and sports pitches."

And it recommends:

"The policy should also inform the public as to when and where they are being applied... particularly for vulnerable groups such as children."

These quotations come from the Green Flag Award guidance produced in partnership with PAN  (Pesticide Action Network) UK.

Official sources:

Green Flag Award – Going Pesticide Free: A Guide for Local Authorities
Green Flag Award Good Practice Toolkit (PDF)

Taken together, these documents provide a strong basis for arguing that routine herbicide spraying should not take place in parks when children are present, and that where pesticide use cannot be avoided it should be minimised, carefully risk assessed, timed to avoid exposure, and accompanied by appropriate public information and precautions.

According to the research published by PAN UK in 2025:

More than 100 UK councils are taking action to reduce pesticide use.
Around 26% reported managing their parks and green spaces without pesticides.
In London, 23 of the 33 boroughs have ended or are phasing out pesticide use in public spaces.