ABU in expecting councils and road authorities to make sure road signs do not get lost in greenery?

Back to the original post: I work for a local council, though not in the Grounds Team. I know it's down to finance, but the Environment Team go on about diversity of habitat and saving the bees etc etc.

As a local resident, however, I did complain about the state of one of our town centre green areas that had been left for so long, it was full of ticks, biting insects and nettles and just not a nice place to be (lots of tall grass for the local druggies to hide in). A couple of other locals complained too and it was eventually cut a couple of weeks ago.

No mow May seems pointless to me - all that wildlife and then you chop it all down anyway. As for road signs, it comes to the same thing. It's unsafe and untidy. Not a great look when you are trying to promote a welcoming place to be.

M0nica

An illegal immigrant and an asylum seeker are two entirely different categories. Just because it is not initially clear who falls into which category does not negate that fact.

Any one who tries to enter another country without a visa is illegal. They are always arrested and taken into custody, many will claim assylum, the courts will investigate their claim.

Until that verdict is given they are still illegal migrants and liable to be deported.

An illegal immigrant and an asylum seeker are two entirely different categories. Just because it is not initially clear who falls into which category does not negate that fact.

M0nica

^ illegal immigrants/AKA asylum seekers^ How many times does it need to be said Assylum seekers are NOT illegal immigrants.

All assyum seekersand illegal immigrants come here wanting to work, to work hard and support themselves, and often families back home. the only reason they do not is because the government will not let them.

They are illegal until they claim Assylum, or are you going to deny that, most are refusing to reveal their jdentity, that is illegal, if you did that you would be arrested.

OldHag

I firmly believe that it should be a condition of claiming their benefits, that people who are out of work, (other than the disabled) should be made to do a certain amount of hours per week, doing tasks like litter picking, sign clearance, etc.

This would benefit the community they live in, not only in the appearance of the place, but also by helping to support their local Council in order to save tax going up even further.

I bet if this were a condition of claiming their benefits, those that are simply shirkers, would soon find paid employment, rather than do this type of work.

Gosh, let's have a pop at those not as well situated as me, eh? And who would arrange, plan, oversee this? Someone(several someones?) who needs to paid. Had Cameron, Osbourne and subsequent Tory small-staters not ripped the central govt grant from councils - who now have difficulty with even statutory services such as care and child protection - we wouldn't be in such a state. Thankfully we now have a proper govt who won't just be siphoning our cash to their donors.

But illegal immigrants are starting their new life by doing something illegal.
Not quite sure how that’s a good idea if we endorse it.

It’s no good*M0nica*, it’s too complex a concept for some. 😉

^ illegal immigrants/AKA asylum seekers^ How many times does it need to be said Assylum seekers are NOT illegal immigrants.

All assyum seekersand illegal immigrants come here wanting to work, to work hard and support themselves, and often families back home. the only reason they do not is because the government will not let them.

Some Somerset signs are so overgrown that warning of bends are hidden and that is dangerous at night.

I was "clocked" some years ago for doing 32 in a 30 limit. The sign was covered in greenery. I complained and took photos but I still had to pay. Two days later the council moved the sign a few yards to a patch with no growth.

No apology and no refund.

Callistemon213
We had the same problem, and we too saw some interesting places.
That was in the days of no satnav, but even satnav can take you to some strange places by going the shortest route.

undines

On the Somerset levels some joker turned a sign round completely! Just great, late on a misty autumn evening!

We visited Wales the year after we were married, doing a Grand Tour.
It was at a time when one of the Welsh Nationalist Groups was protesting, they were turning signposts round to confuse visitors and holiday-makers.

We visited some interesting places quite unexpectedly.

Margiknot

Getting out of our hamlet onto the main road is dangerous. A neighbour said if I took my shears to the tall weeds ( as I suggested) to improve visibility on the junction I could be liable for any accidents that occur at that junction. Could this be true?

I don’t know, but it would be interesting to find out. We were told if we put up fencing with sharp points at the top around the school, we would be liable if someone hurt themselves on it.

On the Somerset levels some joker turned a sign round completely! Just great, late on a misty autumn evening!

Ditto here in Scotland! Either covered by overgrown trees or weeds so high on corners you cannot see what's coming if you're at a junction. Lamposts engulfed by tree branches etc

The local council here (among many other budgeting measures) has cut the budget for maintaining local green spaces and the gardening company charged with the job have had to let staff go. Needless to say the verges ( which used to be trimmed by them) are tall bushy and verdant.
Getting out of our hamlet onto the main road is dangerous. A neighbour said if I took my shears to the tall weeds ( as I suggested) to improve visibility on the junction I could be liable for any accidents that occur at that junction. Could this be true?

Sarahr

The general idea now is that, if you see an issue then you report it to the local council. I understand they then have a certain time scale to address issues. Unless they know there is a problem, it won't be rectified.

That’s funny (not).
Several of our neighbourhood watch group reported the state of the large area of potholes on the corner of a frequently used road. That was back during Covid.
We reported it again a few months back.
Last week, a lorry and a van and several men appeared. They stood round the pothole area and had a discussion. One man got a piece of equipment out of the lorry. He pushed it up and down over the pothole area for several minutes. It was very noisy, but it didn’t actually do anything. Then they all got back in the lorry on the van and drove away.

The general idea now is that, if you see an issue then you report it to the local council. I understand they then have a certain time scale to address issues. Unless they know there is a problem, it won't be rectified.

I am all for allowing wild areas to help wildlife but not at the risk of human life. There are many overgrown road signs, not to mention potholes, in my area. As well as that the Scottish government has wasted a lot of money putting place names in Gaelic on road signs which can be very distracting (when you can actually see them through the overhanging trees etc!) Gaelic (as well as English) is also used on ambulances, police vehicles etc. According to the 2021 census only 1.7% of the population of Scotland can speak, read, write or understand Gaelic …

The same happened to our DS in France last month though*, M0nica*. He approached a STOP sign, but because he was on the right side of the road in a righthand drive the sign was obscured by trees. (Not actually sure a left hand drive driver would have seen it either?). Anyway, smack from a car coming down the roaf at French speed from the left.

I firmly believe that it should be a condition of claiming their benefits, that people who are out of work, (other than the disabled) should be made to do a certain amount of hours per week, doing tasks like litter picking, sign clearance, etc

They should make the illegal immigrants/AKA asylum seekers do this in exchange for the 4 star accommodation we keep them in.

mumof2boys

What other council services do you want to sacrifice to cut hedges?

Given most council budgets go to social care how about stopping funding of a few carers? care home places ?

None.

Cutting back hedges to improve road safety is also a priority.

I'd like to see Councils able to use all the money they raise in Council tax not have it re-allocated by Central Government.

The Welsh Government had to re-pay £150 million back to Central Government because they failed to spend it within a certain timescale. Why could that money not be rolled over for larger projects?

I firmly believe that it should be a condition of claiming their benefits, that people who are out of work, (other than the disabled) should be made to do a certain amount of hours per week, doing tasks like litter picking, sign clearance, etc.

This would benefit the community they live in, not only in the appearance of the place, but also by helping to support their local Council in order to save tax going up even further.

I bet if this were a condition of claiming their benefits, those that are simply shirkers, would soon find paid employment, rather than do this type of work.

What other council services do you want to sacrifice to cut hedges?

Given most council budgets go to social care how about stopping funding of a few carers? care home places ?

See that regularly. Council and road authorities cut backs to blame in my opinion.