Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Highways and Environmental Services, on the Council’s 2016-17 programme of rural highway verge grass cutting, had been circulated previously.

                                                                                                         10.45 a.m.

A copy of a report by the Head of Highways and Environmental Services (HHES) had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

Introducing the report and appendices the Lead Member for Public Realm emphasised that the Council had a duty under the Highways Act of 1980 to keep the highway safe for all who used it.  It also had a statutory duty, under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act of 2006 to promote biodiversity.  At times both these duties could be at odds with each other, hence the reason why the Council needed to devise a rural grass cutting policy that attempted to meet the requirements of both Acts – ensuring a safe highway network whilst at the same time promoting and supporting biodiversity.  Striking an appropriate balance between the requirements of both Acts had been very difficult, and would continue to be so as the growing season varied from year to year.  Officers and the Lead Member felt that in 2015 an appropriate balance had been struck in order to comply with both Acts.  Responding to Members’ questions the Lead Member and officers advised that:

·                      verges in rural areas, apart from the area which lies within the boundary of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), would be cut twice yearly, one swathe in May/June, followed by one swathe or full cut in September/October;

·                      roads within the AONB, known as the biodiversity area, would be cut once in August/September, with visibility splays cut in June/July for safety reasons – by this time the majority of wild flowers would have seeded and died back;

·                      when cutting verges or splays for safety reasons decisions on the extent of the cut were based on safety risk assessments;

·                      there was no definitive guidelines on the length or depth of verge cutting, the sole consideration was the safety of road users be they in vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians;

·                      for a period of time the Council had not been giving sufficient regard to the requirements of the NERC Act, but now that the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 had established biodiversity as a key consideration, the Council would need to have regard to biodiversity requirements;

·                      the Council had identified the AONB area as the most appropriate area to undertake the ‘biodiversity cut’ as it was easily identifiable for the contractors and for residents, therefore it was easier to manage the grass cutting programme and contract;

·                      verges in other parts of the county had been identified as Roadside Nature Reserves (location maps for these were appended to the report).  These ‘reserves’ were cut as and when it was appropriate to undertake the work, dependent upon the species of flora, fauna and wildlife that grew or lived in them;

·                      as the growing season tended to start earlier near the coast the contractor tended to start the grass cutting programme in the north of the county, working his way south in order that the verges in the Dee Valley were cut in time for the Royal International Musical Eisteddfod, in Llangollen in early July (this also meant that areas in the Dee Valley which were within the AONB boundary were cut earlier than other parts of the AONB).  Nevertheless the grass cutting schedule was sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes if required;

·                      at present it was anticipated that this year’s first cut in non-AONB areas would be completed by mid-July;

·                      if Members had concerns or enquiries regarding the cutting programme in their area they should log their enquiries via the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system

A number of Members representing rural wards registered the following concerns with respect to the grass cutting policy:

·                      the timing of the cut, particularly in the AONB/Biodiversity area, and consequently the length and density of the vegetation that would need to be cut at that point in time;

·                      their fears for road users’ safety due to the policy;

·                      as the majority of wildflowers would have seeded by the end of June/early July could the biodiversity area not be cut at that point in time, or possibly cut back to approximately 3” of growth to ensure road users’ safety - particularly narrow rural roads with steep verges where the vegetation tended to grow out into the road and was therefore hazardous;

The Section Manager- Network Management suggested, to allay Members’ concerns, that they would risk assess and prioritise routes within the AONB in time for when the contractor was ready to start the work in that area in July, whilst the Lead Member for Public Realm suggested that in addition to this approach any complaints received in relation to this year’s highways grass cutting programme could be analysed in depth in order to identify improvements for next year. 

At the conclusion of a detailed discussion on the policy the Committee:-

RESOLVED – subject to the above observations:-

(i)             to endorse the Rural Highway Grass Cutting Policy, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, pending the third bullet point in paragraph 3.3 (Biodiversity Areas) of the policy being amended to read as follows – “one swathe or full verge width will be cut in late July/August.  Every effort would be made to delay this cut for as long as possible, subject to robust highway safety risk assessments being undertaken”; and

(ii)           that the contractors’ schedule for rural highways grass cutting be added to the weekly Roadworks Bulletin issued to Councillors and published on the Council’s intranet.