Newlands Drive Vegetation Cut Back

At long last, the vegetation alongside Newlands Drive in Grove has been cut back after months of chasing with the County Highways officers.  I ordered this work to be done right back in January this year, because we had hoped that it would be ready for the grass-cutting of the verge which was to start in the spring.  Unfortunately,  after chasing it some weeks later, we were told that it could not be done due to the nesting birds, but even after the birds had flown their nests, there was still no sign of anything being done!  

This week I went to visit the Highways Depot in Drayton to see how highways maintenance work is done, and we visited a number of areas including Ham Road in Wantage, where potholes were being repaired.   I reported how long this work had been waiting, and discovered that there does not appear to be a programme of works for vegetation cutback, so no wonder orders get lost in the system!  However, I was promised this would be done with immediate effect and that I should see it completed by Friday.  These photographs were taken on Friday evening, so it was clear that by leaving it so long it was a huge task to complete, as some of the brambles had been growing into the road.  This had made it dangerous, especially on the corners, where vehicles were swerving into the centre of the road to avoid getting scratched.

When attending my monthly surgery on Saturday morning in the library, I was alerted by residents to several other areas of vegetation cutback which are long overdue, so I will be chasing these again now.  I have been told that I have just over £12,000 to spend on highways works in the area, which is not much given the amount of projects which need completing.  This  includes gulley emptying, weed killing as well as vegetation cut back and footpath maintenance, so it will be a big task to try and prioritise. I have already promised the parish council that I will contribute to the village weed killing, as I have done for the past few years.  I shall continue to keep you posted on this.