Street cleansing issues also increase following holiday break
The Council says that the volume of recycling put out today on the west of the City exceeded the capacity of its collection vehicles. Their waste update website can be viewed by clicking here They hope to catch up tomorrow(Wednesday)
We’ve submitted numerous reports of litter across the area. This may partly be due to insecure recycling arrangements.
Hopefully residents will help to get the area looking smart again by undertaken some volunteer litter picks.
There were a
lot of problems during the summer with hedges obstructing public paths. In some
cases, the obstructions were caused by Council owned trees and bushes. The jury
is still out on whether new processes and budget allocations announced earlier this
week will result in an improvement during 2020.
Hedges on the boundary
of private gardens and the public highway (including foot and cycle paths) are
the responsibility of the hedge owner. Home occupiers must ensure that the highway
is kept clear of obstructions at all times
Obstructions
can be a significant problem for some users. The partially sighted are at a particular
risk and cyclists being “swiped” by stray branches can lead to more serious accidents.
In some cases thorn
buses like brambles and roses overhang paths representing an added hazard.
Thorn bush branches at eye height are a particular risk
Sadly, like the
problems with damage to verges, in recent years the Council has been tardy in ensuring
that hedges are cut back from paths. They do have enforcement powers which have
been used in the past to force action. In extreme cases hedges have been cut
back to the path line after notice periods have expired. The owners were charged
for the work.
No such notices
have been issued recently.
Of course, some
occupiers may not be physically able to cut badly overgrown hedges. It has been
suggested that this is a service area that a “not for profit” start-up could usefully
exploit. There are already several local gardening companies which offer
trimming services.
Even the Councils own cycle tracks were obstructed last summer
With leaves now
off trees and hedges, winter is the optimum time to deal with long standing problems.
This needs to be done before the start of the bird nesting season.
The Council also
has powers to require its tenants to cut garden hedges as do social landlords.
We have
advocated for some time the appointment of a paths supervisor who could trim
back Council owned hedges and initiate action against irresponsible neighbours
who cause obstructions. We hope that the Council will fund such a post in its
new budget.
We hope to see
some well publicised action from West Offices over the next few weeks.
