Dandelion spraying has been postponed for the remainder of the year and a review of the City of Red Deer’s dandelion program and policy will be done before next spring.
Due to the controversy surrounding pesticide spraying, city administration decided to bring the issue to city council before next year’s program.
Green space at St. Patrick’s and G.H. Dawe schools, along with the Westpark Middle School ball diamond area, were the only areas treated prior to postponement.
The work was done early in the summer.
More spraying was scheduled to take place during the last two weeks of August in selected neighbourhood recreation, playground and school sites.
Parks superintendent Trevor Poth said pausing the program will allow the city to do some research and look at the products it uses.
“We really wanted to take another fresh look at our overall program, to make sure we were meeting the public’s health concerns as well as the needs of the community associated with dandelion reduction.
“Many citizens don’t want herbicides used to control all dandelions; at the same time, others feel that the beauty of our parks and health of our turf is diminished when dandelions are not controlled.”
The city has reduced its per-acre use of pesticides on public lands by 75 per cent over the past 25 years.
And it is committed to reducing the current levels by a further 10 per cent by 2035, as outlined in the Environmental Master Plan.