| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:H&F get it right - why can't Hounslow folllow | |
| Posted by: | Bruce Hammal | |
| Date/Time: | 07/09/23 14:48:00 |
| I absolutely concur with Kathleen. Councils have a statutory responsibility to keep footpaths clear of weeds. This applies even when the job has been subcontracted as is the case in Hounslow. Let me say again, since some people don't appear able to grasp this, we are referring to pavements, not areas suitable for rewilding or other semi-cultivated areas of land. If a council chooses to discontinue using glyphosate, a legal and effective herbicide, then the local authority has a duty to provide an equally effective alternative. Hounslow Highways (the subcontractor) have apparently chosen to employ workers with hoes. If this route is chosen long-term then I'm afraid that Guy's foraging parties will need to be upgraded to armies, toiling day and night to keep the unwanted vegetation in check, since without destroying the roots, the weeds will just come right back. As to the alternative treatments referenced in the OP's outdated cut-and-paste, I can attest that having lived in Hammersmith & Fulham while these methods were in use, their effect was close to nil. I don't know what LBH&F are doing now but it's probably street-cleaners with hoes, though no doubt in greater numbers and with a higher frequency than Hounslow Highways seem prepared to pay for. Meanwhile am happy to report that in my street there are no weeds sprouting outside my house (or those of my immediate neighbours for that matter) as I was out yesterday keeping things in check. It's really not that difficult, if you know how. |