Reginald Barrington
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 17 Dec 2014
- Posts: 3,259
I see today that the dualled part of Honeywood parkway has had all the shrubs and bushes cleared and turfed, apart from laying turf in winter (very odd thing to do) the shrubs needed cutting only once a year. Looks like they're doing the same around to Melbourne ave as well.
The bushes were an absolute haven for hundreds of sparrows last year!
Arte et Marte
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Seems a pity as verges on dual carriageways and motorways are usually home to lots of wildlife.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
I did tell them when they do it to pick up all the rubbish at the same time but that has not happen.
Guest 1395- Registered: 5 Nov 2014
- Posts: 463
I suspect that in the long run the maintenance costs will be lower and there were safety issues with the bushes reducing drivers' views at the roundabouts. As has been said, though, it reduces habitats and is perhaps in the 'overkill' league of actions.
Lew Finnis
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
A few years back all the trees were cut down by the railway line running parallel with Clarendon Road, these were home to a wide variety of birds, squirrels etc.
When I contacted Network Rail they said the trees were a hazard to rail passengers despite them being well clear of platforms.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Risk assessments generally only consider risk to people and man-made structures, not to wildlife and habitats. But it can go too far the other way; the reason the Somerset Levels have flooded so badly in recent years is because too much weight was given to the rights of a few newts and otters.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Reginald Barrington- Location: Dover
- Registered: 17 Dec 2014
- Posts: 3,259
I can understand why they cleared the roundabout last year, but the central reservation had no safetyissue, but the cost implication of clearing, laying turf and cutting it a half dozen times a year while our local authorities are supposedly making savings, something very backwards going on.
Arte et Marte
Guest 977- Registered: 27 Jun 2013
- Posts: 1,031
Shrubs usually only get cleared when they cause an obstruction either physical or to visibility, and the standard cutting schedule for Kent Highways areas of responsibility is once a year after July when growth has stopped.