Strimmed parkland, leaving broken ends of daffodils

• SUE Lees describes how council contractors all too often damage or destroy plant diversity around our estates and parks, in clear contradiction to Islington’s own biodiversity action plan, (One reason we need an action plan, May 27).

I have come across this myself on Highbury Quadrant estate, as well as in other parts of the borough, and it was consistently also raised as an issue at the recent Friends of Parks Forum.

The council needs to up its game on this, to work with residents and gardeners, as well as its own contractors, to ensure that small pockets of semi-wild planting are actively protected and enhanced, rather than allowed to be stripped or strimmed.

We are in an environmental and biodiversity emergency. The council’s action plan outlines how Islington intends to contribute to national and world-wide efforts to protect biodiversity for future generations, and says “there is lots that we can achieve at a local level to safeguard our existing wildlife and to make the places where we live greener, cleaner and healthier”.

However Islington Labour has, for example, twice rejected or watered down my colleague Caroline Russell’s motions to stop using glyphosate weed killer, which an arm of the World Health Organisation describes as “probably carcinogenic to humans” and has potentially harmful effects on children, as well as animals and wildlife.

Other London boroughs, such as Hammersmith & Fulham, Hackney and Croydon, have either ceased the use of glyphosate or are trialling non-chemical weed removal, reductions in areas treated, and other alternatives.

My Green Party colleagues and myself were elected specifically to represent Highbury ward, but as the only opposition councillors in the town hall recognise our responsibility to raise resident concerns more widely.

If readers are aware of specific risk or damage to local vegetation by council contractors, please let us know about it, so that we can raise the case with the relevant executive members and officers, and through the environment and Regeneration scrutiny committee.

CLLR ERNESTAS JEGOROVAS-ARMSTRONG
Green Party, Highbury ward