Help- most effective way of getting local council to remove roadside weeds and maintain better in future

[Summergarden]

Our town used to be reasonably well maintained, but in the last few years it’s been sad to see the weeds growing almost waist high in some areas between the kerbside and road and it’s the same around a lot of traffic islands where pedestrian crossings are or just separating the two sides of the road. This is throughout the town, not just a few roads and the tall and fast spreading weeds honestly resemble a waste ground in some places.

When you live somewhere you become a bit blind to the current state of things and assume it is the same situation everywhere else, but having just returned from a fortnight away spent in two different parts of England, it’s brought the dire state of our local town into sharp contrast. In all the other towns and cities we drove in and around for day trips, weeds were either minimal or non existent. All I want is for our hometown to be looked after in the same way as all these other towns and cities.

I don’t want to be someone that moans and complains, but need to feel I’ve tried my best to get things improved. How can we complain about kids dropping litter and not caring for their environment when it looks such a mess to begin with? They can’t be expected to feel any sense of pride in their local area. I don’t have an issue with grass verges being left a bit longer to be cut for environmental reasons, but I’m not sure these kerbside and other weeds ever get removed and it might just be that they die back over winter when things look better then are allowed to grow unrestricted the rest of the year.

If anyone has campaigned to improve things in their local area I’d be grateful to hear which approaches were most successful please. I’ve never felt the need to complain before so am unsure whether to contact the local councillors, MP, write to the local paper or try something else.

If anyone can help suggest any good arguments to put forward to help persuade the council to take action that would be great too as I’m not very good at thinking of these things.

Many thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

Treated with what? Glyphosate? Horrible stuff.

Local councils just cannot afford to do this anymore. When at happened in my village, groups of volunteers got together to sort it out. We clear weeds and rubbish, plant bulbs, flower boxes and have a rota for watering. Surrounding villages are now doing the same.
Instead of complaining, why don't you getff your arse and do the same?

Don't suppose you live in the Vale of Glamorgan do you Op? 👀 (Specifically Barrybados.)

Top stuff.
Ho ho ho

You are wrong. Most councils don't, "do it".

Donate a few million pounds every year? Joke, obviously. Lots of councils are cash strapped and have to spend the funds in other areas. You could team up with some like minded residents and get out and volunteer to help maintain the verges/roundabouts. I’ve seen this happen in some areas. Contact the council and see if they have any such schemes on the go or if they’d welcome setting some up.

This as above from @Flopsythebunny

”Local councils just cannot afford to do this anymore. When at happened in my village, groups of volunteers got together to sort it out. We clear weeds and rubbish, plant bulbs, flower boxes and have a rota for watering. Surrounding villages are now doing the same.
Instead of complaining, why don't you getff your arse and do the same?”

Civic pride.
Personal responsibility for your location.

Are you against Pride then?

I'm more interested in how to get them to stop the flipping that has now sprung up against every tree along the residential roads in my area. I'll swap you the beds, cases, rotting garden waste etc I see every time I leave home and walk down my road for your weeds.n

Great tall weeds growing in between the kerb and the road = growing in the gutter; and blocked gutters increase the likelihood of blocked drains and flash flooding, with water damage to local properties. That's really not great for the local area, is it?

I'd make a start by writing to your local parish/town council and copy in the highways department at the county council, and your MP. You might as well hit them all in one go.

Pride is now a colossal waste of money and plastic. All those flags and bits of bunting are 100% plastic, all put in landfill after Pride month. The law has been changed, to be gay isn’t illegal, section 28 is so long gone that kids are bullying teachers by changing their pronouns every other day now, and therefore local government doesn’t need to spend money on it.

Speak to your local councillor. But as others have said, you might need to try and organise some volunteers. I assume local businesses etc pay for most of the hanging baskets etc you see.

Does it genuinely matter? I understand wanting to take pride in your local area and for it to look nice, but the only reason any of us think of short mown grass as 'looking nice' is that we got used to it years ago when councils had more money and we weren't as aware of the UK's declining biodiversity as we are now.
It's not necessary or natural for so much of the world outside our homes, gardens and parks to be covered in a monoculture of short grass...

That said, it's completely your choice whether you think this way or not, and if it's really bugging you the best thing you can do is email your local councillor, and vote in local elections. There'll be some people emailing asking them to mow it (and calling them lazy), others emailing asking them to keep it long (and having a go at them when it does get mown) so which way they go depends on a) their personal beliefs and b) the weight of local opinion.

No different to any other type of celebration, imo
fyi where I live the bunting etc is saved to be used another year, or indeed in another city as not all pride events are held on the same day, of kids want to change their pronouns it’s up to them and has nothing whatsoever to do with you ,
also A LOT of Pride events are self funded as the organisers spend the best part of a year organising sponsors etc , I’ve been involved in this years pride & as a heterosexual I loved seeing the parades and all my friends participating in it, it was lovely to my many trans friends happy to be who they really are , & it’s people like you that spoil it for everyone, you must have apoplexy during Halloween & Christmas lol

Council's will often cite leaving pollinators etc., but in reality much is destructive plants which undermine tarmac, block drainage and there's often little good unless planted. In our town, in so called prosperous Hampshire,volunteers clear verges and plant in the town. Outside I've litter picked for 21 years, cleared soakaway, scrapped off road edging, cleaned road signs. I do it because I care, but please don't tell me nothing happens due to a lack of money as now a quarter of a century and always been crap! I also worked briefly (left as actually did want to work) for the local authority and believe me work avoidance is an art there, from top to bottom! We all need to take more pride
In our environments imo.

Our Council use an App called Fix my Street, so if trees are growing over a path or weeds starting to block a path you take a photo & report it. It’s usually fixed within the week.Also works with fly tipping, broken drains etc.
We also have a very popular Litter Picking Group that have a high Social Media presence, they are out most weekends, go into schools and my Estate have set up a Street Association.
it’s been very successful, monthly meeting, all the street lights work, the place looks tidy, regular little picks with the group mentioned above. We have obtained grants and got a Defibrillator for the outside of the community centre , a Little Library where people can donate or borrow books.
The area is much improved!