Friday, September 08, 2006
The Urban Fringe gets a Hair Cut
May Bank Holiday saw a first for St. Mellons and a victory for commonsense, when the Council carried out a proper cut of all the road-side verges and embankments in the St. Mellons. Missed areas have been reported and should be included next time.
St Mellons residents have been concerned about brambles and shrubs reducing visibility along some stretches of Willowbrook Drive. Inadequate verge maintenance along Crickhowell Drive may have played a part in the tragic road-death of a child almost two years ago and explain why a few years ago a resident failed to see an Adder (rare, venomous but native snake) on an overgrown path near Meadowlane School before she was bitten.
The problem was caused in my view by unnecessarily complicated land maintenance programmes and limited budget. We asked the Council to combine all land maintenance under one service area and supported the idea of running a three-year “pilot study” in St. Mellons to see how it would operate before extending the programme to the whole of Cardiff.
This was agreed in 2003 but when Labour lost the local elections the idea was quietly dropped.
Following the tragic death of a child, I finally ran out of patience last year and asked the Labour Group to support a “notice of motion” from Monica Walsh and myself, that would ensure a single department to maintain Council land, road-side verges and parks etc, would be established within three years. This was supported by most Councillors and is now Council policy.
Councillor Ralph Cook
St Mellons residents have been concerned about brambles and shrubs reducing visibility along some stretches of Willowbrook Drive. Inadequate verge maintenance along Crickhowell Drive may have played a part in the tragic road-death of a child almost two years ago and explain why a few years ago a resident failed to see an Adder (rare, venomous but native snake) on an overgrown path near Meadowlane School before she was bitten.
The problem was caused in my view by unnecessarily complicated land maintenance programmes and limited budget. We asked the Council to combine all land maintenance under one service area and supported the idea of running a three-year “pilot study” in St. Mellons to see how it would operate before extending the programme to the whole of Cardiff.
This was agreed in 2003 but when Labour lost the local elections the idea was quietly dropped.
Following the tragic death of a child, I finally ran out of patience last year and asked the Labour Group to support a “notice of motion” from Monica Walsh and myself, that would ensure a single department to maintain Council land, road-side verges and parks etc, would be established within three years. This was supported by most Councillors and is now Council policy.
Councillor Ralph Cook
