Children protesting outside Eastbourne council SUS-190107-165016001

The youngsters, aged between six and 11, have banded together to plea for Eastbourne Borough Council to stop using glyphosate on roads and pavements.

Dulcie Lee Ross, six, wrote, “We are writing to you because you need to stop putting glyphosate on the pavement. Weeds are our plants and our planet has already lost too many plants.

Dulcie Lee's letter to the council

“Glyphosates also kill our pollinators and bees and people say it can cause cancer. Why are you doing it when it is so bad for the insects/planet and for us? From Dulcie Lee.”

Dulcie Lee said, “We don’t want to die. That’s why we wrote it. It doesn’t matter about the weeds, it matters about our planet.”

And Charlie Heaysman, 11, wrote, “I am writing to convince you to stop using glyphosate in Eastbourne because I would like the insects to live and to thrive.

“Also I would like you to stop spraying it because I would like to eat the fennel in my front garden.”

He said to the Herald, “We want all the bees to live!”

And his brother James, six, said, “I’m worried about the environment. If we don’t have any bees we will die.”

They are holding an ‘ugly bug picnic’ from 1pm on July 26 in Gildredge Park to protest.

A spokesperson for Eastbourne council said, “As a licensed product, we currently use glyphosate to control weeds in areas such as roads and pavements on behalf of the county council.

“We are reducing the use of glyphosate and other pesticides on council land.