Those south cliff paths won’t clear themselves
PATHS are being cleared along the island’s south coast cliffs ahead of this Saturday’s Saffery Rotary Walk.
Two teams of two grounds staff from States Works were busy strimming, trimming and cutting grass to the west and east of La Prevote Tower in Forest yesterday, having started around the coast at La Vallette and Jerbourg a few weeks ago.
The clearing work is due to be completed at Pleinmont on Friday afternoon ahead of the charity walk on Saturday, which will see participants set off from town and hike along the entirety of the south coast as part of the round-island route.
States Works land management assistant manager Nick Ousley said his teams began work around La Prevote at about 7am and 7.30am respectively, and were focusing primarily on weed removal, as well as clearing very overgrown sections of path known as pinch points.
‘Some of the terrain is quite rough and having to contend with the steps doesn’t make things any easier,’ he said.
‘My colleagues will be using a strimmer to clear most of it as it gets very thick in places.’
He said that the thickness of vegetation varied because of the nature of the coastline being in a valley.
‘In a water catchment area things will grow quicker, while in an area of dryness there will obviously be a lot less growth, it changes as you walk along.’
Regarding the flora that lined the cliff paths, Mr Ousley said that large groups of flowers that were in full bloom were left alone in order to preserve the biodiversity of the cliffs.
‘They will re-seed and attract wildlife, such as ants, to the area.’
Groundsmen Jerry Remfrey and Matthew Smith made up one of the two teams working in the area, and agreed that this year’s cut was one of the toughest they had done.
‘It’s so thick this time, it’s worse than last year for sure,’ Mr Remfrey said.
‘The weather has just made everything grow so quickly. I’m just glad it’s not too hot today to work in.’
Mr Smith added that they would go over what they had already cut a second time to ensure everything was removed.
‘The second cut can vary depending on how much things have grown,’ he said.
‘After we are done we will use a blower to move all the debris into the cliffs, which is environmentally good for the area, and also obviously means the paths are ready to go for the weekend.’
