Chance to opt out of first weed spray of the year

Published: 13 April 2022

Residents in Exeter are being given the chance to opt-out of the first weed spray of the roads this year in an attempt to reduce the use of potentially–damaging chemical controls in the city.

Over the last five years the Council’s Green Space team has reduced the use of chemical controls significantly.

The first spray will start in mid May and will take up to 28 working days to complete all the roads in Exeter.

Those wishing to opt out will need to consider the following:

• Residents considering applying to opt out must be able to commit to maintaining their road, cul-de-sac, or street, depending on size.
• Only one representative per street needs to apply to opt-out of the scheme on behalf of all of their neighbours by 3pm on Monday 9 May at the latest.
• The Council is unable to remove individual houses/verges from the spray regime due to the difficulties in implementation and is therefore only able to accept opt-outs from entire roads or streets.
• To apply, people are asked to email weedsprayoptout@exeter.gov.uk stating: 1) the street name; 2) their commitment to maintaining the road and 3) whether there are any dissenting neighbours that would prefer the spray to continue.

Each request to opt out will be reviewed on a case by case basis, and only where residents are able to maintain their areas to the following standard or better (see image below) will the Council approve. Where a road is removed from the opt-out scheme, they will not be able to reapply in 2022.