19-04-2025
Labour councils use petrol-guzzling tools despite net zero pledges
Councils that claim to be tackling global warming by creating clean air zones are also using 'high-polluting petrol-powered' tools in public parks.
Some local authorities have failed to replace garden maintenance equipment such as leaf blowers, hedge trimmers and chainsaws that use old-fashioned two-stroke engines.
Such devices, used in public spaces including schools, have been found to emit 11 times the carbon monoxide and four times the nitrogen oxide of a small petrol family car.
Many of the worst offending councils are Labour-run and have introduced schemes such as low emissions or clean air zones and emission-based residents' car parking permits, which have made millions of pounds from motorists.
A series of freedom of information requests was submitted to councils that had promoted so-called 'clean air' schemes in an attempt to see whether they were being as 'green' as they claimed.
The authorities were asked if they knew what type of 'outdoor power equipment [is] used to maintain grounds, parks and other public green spaces' within their clean air zones. They were then asked what percentage of that equipment was petrol- or battery-powered.
Reliance on petrol power
Birmingham city council, a Labour authority, said 100 per cent of its grounds maintenance devices were petrol-powered, adding how it had 15 leaf blowers, 31 brush, line and hedge trimmers and 15 ride-on or push mowers. In London, Croydon, Harrow, Hillingdon and Sutton also admitted that all of its outdoor equipment was petrol-powered.
Redbridge revealed 95 per cent of devices were petrol-reliant, with Bristol and Portsmouth and the London boroughs of Barnet, Havering, Newham and Tower Hamlets declaring 90 per cent of their outdoor gear ran on petrol.
The London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham said 85 per cent of such devices were petrol-reliant, with Ealing council citing 80 per cent, Bradford 75 per cent, and Barking & Dagenham, Waltham Forest and Richmond and Wandsworth stating that 70 per cent used petrol.
In contrast, all of the outdoor equipment owned by the Conservative-run Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was battery-powered.
Councils in Sheffield and Brent were also making promising strides, with battery-powered equipment now accounting for 85 per cent and 90 per cent of tools respectively.
Ego Power Plus, the company which obtained the data and which manufactures garden equipment powered by lithium batteries, claimed research had shown two-stroke engine petrol-powered tools were 'often associated with poor levels of fuel efficiency and high pollution levels'.
A two-stroke engine, invented in 1881, is an internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston – an upward and a downward movement – in one revolution of the crankshaft.
Vince Brauns, of Ego Power Plus, said: 'Our most recent research into the use of outdoor power equipment by councils within clean air zones shows that, despite making clear commitments to improving air quality, many councils are still using highly polluting petrol-powered equipment.
'By focussing our research on councils who have made clear commitments to sustainability through clean air zones, we were keen to understand if councils have recognised the negative impact of petrol-powered tools, and how much progress has been made on their journeys towards a greener, battery-powered future.'
