It is expected that E&I will do more to tackle roadside weeds if it secures an increased budget for 2027 through the Policy & Resources Committee’s Option B package for 2027 in debate next week.
E&I president Adrian Gabriel has admitted that a ban on spraying roadsides with the weedkiller glyphosate was not producing the right results across the island.
‘Not maintaining the roadsides has a material effect on the parish and people are quite frankly fed up with it,’ said Vale constable John Niles on the parish’s website.
He expects that the matter could be raised at next week’s parish elections meeting, scheduled for Wednesday 4 November, the day after the Budget debate starts. If it is, the constables are ready to ask parishioners whether the Vale should take on the task itself.
‘Given Deputy Gabriel’s comments, we hope it won’t come to that, but we have to be prepared – the roadsides and verges cannot be left in their current condition, which has been deteriorating since the weedkiller ban was introduced three or four years ago,’ he said.
‘When the verges were sprayed the island looked neat and tidy,’ he said.
‘Now the roads most definitely do not and the scruffy verges are among the most common complaints we receive.
‘I repeat what I said in the summer when this was last discussed – that it was obvious from the start it was a well-intentioned decision but one doomed to failure unless the States put significant resources into keeping the verges weed-free, and they haven’t.'
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