Glyphosate: Cornwall County Council Motion
Cornwall Council’s Full Council met today, 21 April 2026, and discussed a motion (attached).There was a long debate: many people spoke against using glyphosate, but some supported it as well.
Whatever people’s views on chemicals were, there was broad agreement that town and parish councils (and the sector more widely) were treated poorly during the process, and apologies were made for that.
Cornwall Council agreed to:
• Acknowledge that bringing glyphosate back is a major change in policy, with impacts for the environment, public health, and local democracy across Cornwall.
• Delay the planned start of chemical weed treatment (due to begin in May 2026) until there has been a proper public consultation.
• Accept that the three-week “opt-out” window for town and parish councils was not good enough (especially as it included Easter), and extend it to 30 days after the public consultation results are published.
• Provide clearer guidance to town/parish councils about the minimum standards expected for the urban network.
• Urgently review the opt-out scheme funding, saying the current approach is unfair and pressures councils into accepting glyphosate.
As things stand, councils that opt out lose other improvement works and receive funding only for the chemical treatment element (£343.45 per km), meaning they must cover the additional costs of alternative weed control, waste clearance, and public liability insurance from their own budgets. The decision is to separate opting out from the loss of estate improvement funding.
Cornwall Association of Local Councils (CALC) will keep talking with Cornwall Council about what went wrong in the process — especially around poor communication and lack of consultation with town and parish councils.
21st April 2026