First of all, we know that quite a few people are unhappy at the state of Sweyne Park recently. We’ve been told that there have been some cases of dogs being taken to their vet with rashes on their legs because of the long vegetation.
It’s been a difficult year for the District Council, with their contractor going bankrupt and the extremely wet early summer. But even so we are very unhappy ourselves that Sweyne Park hasn’t been maintained better. The latest response from the council is that if the weather shows no signs of improving the grass / vegetation will be flailed rather than cut for hay.
On a more positive note, the council is trying to sort out a new contact for ground maintenance next year, and Chris Black is one of the small team of councillors looking at this. One of the things he has been keen to see is to have a few more people employed directly by the council rather than by contractors. This would help the council retain some grassroots knowledge of each area, and also provide a bit of flexibility. As a separate point, bringing back some old-fashioned park wardens would be useful. It’s difficult to blog about this when meetings are still taking place but we can at least quote from the council document on bye-laws that we mentioned in our previous article:
These byelaws will be enforced by park wardens who are to be added to the establishment as part of the new grounds maintenance arrangements which should be in place from April next year.
Lovely picture of Ragwort! Could be that is causing rashes on the dogs .Rather reinforces my comments at the recent Rawreth Parish Council!I think it is too late for hay now .Going to be difficult for next year as the grass really needs to be removed .There is likely to be damage to the sward with rotting grass left over winter.
I took that photo in Sweyne Park a month or so ago, didn’t realise it was Ragwort! Thanks very much for the info Alistir.
I think the question of Ragwort , not only here but on grass verges, needs to be discussed at the next West Area meeting. I know its a big issue for farmers. Alistir perhaps you could repeat on here what you said at the last Rawreth PC meeting?
Has cut grass ever been removed on the RDC Grounds Contracts?
John , as far as I know a farmer removes the hay from that part of sweyne Park each year do not know what sort of contract there was with RDC Because of the dreadful weather most farmers did not do much hay before September so I assume he ran out of time .It has left the council an expensive job .Perhaps as a Councillor you could ask if there was any obligation to remove the grass by the Farmer .
Chris , for the benefit of others my comment about ragwort was directed specifically at the A1245 between Bedloes and the District boundary at the bridge.Some months ago we asked for the verges to be cut as the ragwort was beginning to flower and would blow the seed into nearby fields .We received a reply that said it was not RDC policy to cut it unless the fields were cut for hay .Since then we have had one narrow cut with the rest seeding profusely ,hay is taken from three fields on the south side one being lucerne which is not easy to spray for .Ragwort is covered by the weed act [1953?] amended 2003 .There is an obligation to remove it as it is toxic to livestock and can cause allergic reactions to humans .The situation is bad on the rest of the A1245 going south .I know RDC has little funding for grass cutting and indeed it is a scandal that the formula from county is without logic .I believe that questions should be asked of county how they think RDC can maintain verges for 33000 Pounds per annum when Chelmsford get six times the amount .
Alistir, I asked that question of the Portfolio Holder about long grass having been cut, left and left to rot damaging the underlying grass in Hawkwell. I was advised that removal was not a requirement by RDC. I don’t know about the relationship with the farmer you mention. Chris could follow up on this. Regards, John
I don’t think there was an obligation, just an agreement with the farmer about him cutting it and removing it as a hay crop. I will be asking further…
The verges and central reservation on the A1245 and A127 should be cut for road safety reasons, as well as weed control. Sight lines at roundabouts and approaching side roads has been reduced. This seems to have been occurring for the last few years, but is worse this year.