norfolk dumpling Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 The lanes around my neighbourhood have just been subjected to this annual event and it's carnage again: 1) more road name signs flattened - these take years to be repaired/replaced 2) a pheasants nest taken out near my house 3) roads littered with broken boughs thrown into the roads by the cutters and of course any litter 'redistributed' 4) god only knows how many small creaturers killed Why? I have a theory that the encroaching cow parsley etc restricting the lane width actually slows traffic down. Ok I accept near junctions where visibility affected there is an argument for cutting but why destroy thousands of acres of grass and wild flowers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Why, because if the foliage isn't cut back nature would reclaim the road and you wouldn't be able to drive to your home down the lane. Simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver90owner Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Lets think about this, just a little. Flattened road names should not happen. how many pheasants nest within about a metre of the verge? Boughs? Isn't this about cutting verges, not trees? Yes, branches do fall off trees, sometimes onto the carriageway. Farmers cut thousands upon thousands of hectares of grassland for silage or hay. They also sow corn crops for later harvesting and also kill unwanted plant species with herbicides. Any real difference? Ban their operations? I agree with cutting back the immedite growth adjacent to the kerb, but not wide swathes from roadside to hedge. Do you mow your lawn? Or maybe replaced it with herringbone paving? Pot and kettle could easily come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 The cutters by us have a big brush on the front of his tractor so it's all swept down after. The verges need trimming so visability is good as said at junctions etc plus a good tidy up looks nice. If signs are broke why don't you report the cutters ? Most a self employed and would hate their insurance claimed off. I like it by us when it's all trimmed up plus my mates do the cutting so we get to chat and find out where the bunnys are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 I cant get excited about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFC Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 In the village that I lived, when I were a lad, there was two local blokes, Percy and Arthur, who were employed for the whole summer every year to work their way round the whole village with scythes cutting down the verges. They always stopped for a chat with us kids and I always marvelled at the way they whisked their whetstone across the blade of their scythe to hone them razor-sharp. The cow parsley would just lay down as they, apparently effortlessly, slashed through the stems an inch off the ground. I often tried to emulate them in our garden with my Dad's scythe. Still got all my fingers. Aaarr, t'old ways r best. (no euphemisms intended) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted May 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Perhaps our lot are cowboys (or cheap) but our lane looks a real mess this morning. A couple of signs damaged. A huge lump out of a high bank exposing roots of the hedge above. The boughs scattered across the road ( I cleared them up) were from some large branches which came down a couple of weeks ago. Yes I do cut my lawn but I leave a couple of decent sized rough areas - nettles, docks and buttercups - where I know we have pheasants nesting. This just seems to me - my opinion, which obviously some of you disagree with - totally unnecessary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Take photos and send to council it used to be a nice little earner for local farmers verge cutting but now it may go to the cheapest tender there will be huge rules on what is supposed to being done but the quality assurance may be lacking flag it up and then if nothing is done complain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Think yourself lucky. They don't bother with mine and i have to do it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrM Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Our local council wait till the crocuses have just come out in swathes and then mow them down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srspower Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 People forget farmers do the exact same thing to all of their hedges at this time of year using a flail usually. It's just a question of keeping everything tidy I guess. Can be annoying though when you need cover pigeon shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barrett Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 If Farmers are signed up to envimental schemes hedges should not be cut between 1st March and up to 31st August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Im pretty sure councils are legally obliged to cut verges which has hog weed growing in it so i guess sometimes it cannot be helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 No i dont hate it, its perfectly necessary to keep the area looking neat and tidy. What i do however hate is when they only do half a job and i have to go out and finish the cutting off for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted May 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 But doesn't has to happen at all? On our little lanes the end result is awful - ok on B roads perhaps but single track lanes where wild flowers and wildlife flourish no. Junctions and around road signs only. Hate what I saw this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 People forget farmers do the exact same thing to all of their hedges at this time of year using a flail usually. It's just a question of keeping everything tidy I guess. Can be annoying though when you need cover pigeon shooting. No they don't, in fact it is in the rules that they are not allowed to. It doesn't make any difference if you are signed up to an environment scheme or not either, you are just not allowed to unless for "road safety". ie. you can do roadside hedges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Floppy verges make the shaven legged cyclists move further out into the road....... A wee trim becomes good to keep the cyclist tucked in..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 Floppy verges make the shaven legged cyclists move further out into the road....... A wee trim becomes good to keep the cyclist tucked in..... It's also good for single track roads so you can see where to pull over! The amount of times I've had to pull nearly into.a dyke because people coming the opposite can't see the stow ways or how wide the verges are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deershooter Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 They only cut about 1 m of verge around us in Lincolnshire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 it should be unnecessary if the verges were sown with short grasses and wild flowers then they could be left as thousands of hectares of beetle banks and wild flower reserves (wild flowers are our most threatened species) , roads wouldnt need to be closed and the council energy bills could be reduced, the sheep graze the verges around here so we dont have the problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 But doesn't has to happen at all? On our little lanes the end result is awful - ok on B roads perhaps but single track lanes where wild flowers and wildlife flourish no. Junctions and around road signs only. Hate what I saw this morning. May i suggest if you don't like it, you sod off to the city? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo90 Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 Ah when the council cut the verges..... The smell of freshly cut dog **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonker Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 (edited) Having actually done this for a mate who was a driver down on his contracting team for two weeks. The reason for it is simple! Safety! If your on a country lane or narrow road everyone walks on the tarmac when long grass and cow parsley are on the verges. Pedestrians and to that matter cyclists have nowhere to go to get out of the way, cars, vans, and lets face it tractors, all travel way to fast down these roads ( because we're locals and know them) One of the worst bits I found of doing it was the impatient attitude of people when they were held up behind you till you got to the next gateway. That and having to stop and spend hours trying to cut wire, plastic and rubbish that had wrapped itself tighter than a ducks **** around the flails because someone had fly tipped and I had not seen it because the grass had grown up through it. We're a dirty lot in this country. Edited May 24, 2015 by tonker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hedge cutters and verge cutters must all have flip top heads, so they can take out their brains before they jump in the tractor cab. Three summers ago one verge cutter took it upon himself to go off the the road and ' do' the green lane which borders my shoot. Thirty yards wide, goes no where so only sees pedestrian traffic, he topped it hedge to hedge. In the second week of June!!! Chopped up a grey partridge on her nest and a redleg partridge on her nest, within twenty yards of each other too. Not too mention the various warblers etc which also go annihliated. Council denied all knowledge. Still seething about it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav912 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I spent last spring working for one of the larger verge cutting contractors here in Norfolk, if any signs were damaged they were immediately reported to management but I cannot remember a single incidence of this happening last year. We had more incidents involving near misses with ignorant members of the public overtaking on corners into oncoming traffic, nearly running into us, cyclists going under the cutter arm between the verge and the tractor and pedestrians doing the same. The first 1m of the verge belongs to the highways agency and it is their responsibility to maintain it, corners are cut back 2 - 3m for safety reasons as are junctions. There was a fatal accident a few years back where at the inquest the coroner blamed uncut verges as a contributing factor to the death so councils are now very careful about being involved in any legal proceedings over it. I'd be interested to know which part of Norfolk this happened in as its unusual for any contractor working on a highways contract to cause that level of damage as they are all checked up on for quality of work and can be stopped at any time by one of the local area managers. Its not unusual to get impatient farmers go in and have a go at doing the verges at times and make a mess of it too. All of us working where I was last year wouldn't knowingly hit a nesting bird and would lift over a nest if we saw it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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