Town to give more notice of spraying

The Town of Halton Hills has changed its pesticide spraying policy so that all school principals, parent councils and daycare operators will be informed before any spraying is done in parks adjacent to their schools. The principals and operators will be requested to send home notice of the spraying to the parents of the students. Spraying will also not take place when children are present-- during the times students are walking to and from school, for example. Although the Town publicizes in the newspaper when it plans to spray parks, a parent complained to council members that that wasn't good enough. Town staff will also review the signage in parks about the spraying to make it more understandable to children entering the park. The policy currently reads that spraying will not be done within 15 metres of schools, daycare centres, play structures and watercourses.