Call for council to restart weeding in village near Peterborough over flooding concerns

There have been calls for the county council to re-start weeding roads and footpaths in a village near Peterborough after the parish council raised safety concerns.

Stilton Parish Council has written a letter to Cambridgeshire County Council highlighting an ‘explosion’ of weeds that have grown in the village.

The county council cut the amount of weed killing runs they carry out as part of the budget last year – but that decision is now being reviewed.

In their letter, the parish council said: “Please accept this formal objection on behalf of Stilton Parish Council to the change in weed killing policy the County Council implemented this year. Our roads, cycle ways and footpaths are in a dreadful state due to the explosion of weeds since your policy change.

“This has an unacceptable detrimental effect on the look, usability, and cost of repair to our highways.

“Our residents are unhappy at how you have made our community look. Those who attempt active travel are angry at the state of the weed-ridden paths they must dodge. We are deeply concerned at the effect this will have on flash flooding, as gulley’s and drains become blocked by weeds.

"We also are aware of the poisonous danger posed to horses by the rapid increase in Ragwort in our area.

"As a council we cannot understand the short sighted financial nature of this decision, as short-term gain will be overshadowed by future repair bills. We are further dismayed that the County Council would implement such a devastating cut to a vital service with no consultation (or no meaningful consultation) with our council. This blatant attempt at cost shunting onto our council is unacceptable.”

The letter adds: “We ask that the chief executive Stephen Moir, takes urgent action to remove weeds across the County

“We ask that the Chair of Highways, Alex Beckett, issues a public statement to reverse this dreadful decision and explain the immediate actions the County Council will be taking to address this

“We ask the monitoring officer, Emma Duncan, to investigate how a major cut to services was allowed take place without engagement with Town and Parish Councils.”

A petition calling for change has now been started – and has already attracted more than 1,000 signatures.

Cllr Alex Beckett, chair of the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “We looked at our weedkilling programme last year as part of our budget setting process. However, we are reviewing the impact of this decision to inform our planning for the next year’s budget.

“We made this change as we want to reduce the use of chemical treatments and only remove weeds when they become a nuisance or safety hazard. This will help improve the environment and is part of our commitment to biodiversity.

“As a result, we no longer carry out regular programmed chemical weed treatment, however, if weeds do present a nuisance or a safety hazard they will be removed and before any major work.”