States admits cut backs on cutting back weeds
The States has admitted that it has cut back on cutting back weeds on the island’s footpaths and roadsides.
Many islanders are unhappy about what they see as unsightly streets across the island and feel that there is a growing problem.
The States said it was now spending less time and money on tackling roadside weeds, and that, combined with weather conditions, had led to the levels of growth.
‘With increasing pressures on States finances, since 2022 the budget available to spend on road cleansing has remained the same, despite inflationary pressures,’ said a spokesman for Traffic & Highway Services.
‘This means that the cleaning and weeding regime outside of the main areas of town and the Bridge has had to be reduced.’
However the States continued to work with contractors to try to ensure that roads and footpaths remain as clean and weed free as was practical, he said.
‘Where THS has become aware that weeds have grown to such an extent to impact significantly on road drainage or has caused obstruction of footpaths, then it regularly issues instructions for the area to be visited ahead of schedule or re-visited.’
Islanders have taken it upon themselves to clear up outside their properties, while one parish has even asked people to do just that.
Even a member of the Floral Guernsey Council has contacted the Guernsey Press on their concerns about the impact of weeds on the island’s appearance and what visitors might think.
‘For the States themselves to let it get to this point is disappointing,’ he said.
‘At the moment the island appears to be in a managed decline and that needs to stop.’
He pointed to the St Julian’s roundabout as an example of how unkempt the island was looking.
‘It’s just been let go, apart from a good crop of dandelions,’ he said. ‘It is the first thing many visitors to the island see, how hard would it be just to keep it cut short? In the past we have prided ourselves on being an island of flowers. It must be having a negative effect.’
The proliferation of unwanted flora across the island has been blamed by some on the weather and the island has seen unusually high rainfall this summer, with July in particular seeing more than twice the average.
A spokesman for States Works said there had been a noticeable increase in weed growth since March, with the weather throughout this period providing perfect growing conditions.
