Habib Rehman Working Hard For Residents Of University Ward

Weeds Causing Concern

Councillor Rehman Inundated With Complaints From Residents  

Councillor Habib Rehman Campaigning For Action On Weeds

Some residents have seen an increase in weed growth which has covered up the entire footpath making it difficult to walk safely. A common point the residents raise is that overgrown weeds not just look untidy but pose a serious health and safety problem for the elderly and disabled.

This summer, residents have complained that the council has "missed out" on treating weeds in University ward and that after many calls to the contact centre, no visible response seen by residents to attend the weeds. some residents even offered to spray and treat the weeds themselves by setting a deadline if someone from the council does not commence the treatment soon.   

On making further enquiries Councillor Rehman found that Streetscence Department were already aware of the problems reported by residents as far back as May 2009:

  1. The service has been criticised over the previous two years for standards and response times in terms of weed control.
  2. In previous years the service was carried out using in house labour, and two applications were carried out town wide. However due to resource issues and weather conditions, certain areas of the town were not treated until quite some time after the appearance of weed growth.
  3. There have been further changes in legislation, which restrict the type and application of chemical, which can be utilised in the treatment of weeds. Residual chemicals are no longer permitted, and as such weeds can only be treated with contact herbicide once they have appeared.
  4. In order to improve the situation, it is proposed to engage the services of a specialist weed control contractor, with sufficient resource capacity and expertise to deliver three applications over the forthcoming growing season.
  5. Each application will be carried out over a four week period across the whole of the town, this was not achievable using the in house provision.
  6. Whilst weeds will still be visible during their initial growing period, the reduced period of application and the addition of a third cycle of spraying should make significant improvements to the quality of this service.
  7. This arrangement will be procured utilising an existing Tees Valley wide arrangement, and therefore satisfies the Council’s procurement procedures.

(Source: EXECUTIVE MEMBER DECISION, Quarterly Report – April 2009, Councillor Paul Thompson, Executive Member for Streetscene, Ed Chicken, Acting Director of Environment, 18 May 2009)

 

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