A pensioner riding along the footpath on High Lane, Burscough was stopped in his tracks opposite the Beaufort care home on Saturday morning by an overgrown hedging.

But he was well prepared for the inconvenience, whipping out a pair of secateurs to cut back the hawthorn hedging before carrying on towards Ormskirk.

QLocal reporter Roger Blaxall took photos of the hedge on Saturday afternoon, wondering why local councillors can't get a grip on 'quality of life' issues like this - after all they're paid enough by way of allowances to keep an eye on their parish problems.

I challenge anyone, in a wheelchair or as a pedestrian, to walk along the only pavement provided in Parrs Lane, Aughton Park. From top to bottom, that's from Prescot Road up to Long Lane, hedge and hawthorn will blight your progress, forcing you onto the road, which itself continues to be in an appalling condition. The property owners seem to believe that lamp-posts and telegraph poles placed on the public pavement should then be surrounded and hidden by ivy, thorns, and hedges they neglect to maintain. Farmers are as bad.

The neglect is probably due to years of lack of interest from two Tory elected councillors who live in Halsall. But the Tory blue wall was smashed in May and a Labour councillor was elected. He may wish to make an impact simply by asking the useless Borough Council officers responsible for pavements in West Lancashire to attend Parrs Lane and serve enforcement orders. This is a special case because stepping onto the road to avoid hawthorns risks life and limb from speeding cars. It's a no brainer for the new Labour councillor...just make a name for yourself?

Originally Posted by Deep Throat

I challenge anyone, in a wheelchair or as a pedestrian, to walk along the only pavement provided in Parrs Lane, Aughton Park. From top to bottom, that's from Prescot Road up to Long Lane, hedge and hawthorn will blight your progress, forcing you onto the road, which itself continues to be in an appalling condition. The property owners seem to believe that lamp-posts and telegraph poles placed on the public pavement should then be surrounded and hidden by ivy, thorns, and hedges they neglect to maintain. Farmers are as bad. The neglect is probably due to years of lack of interest from two Tory elected councillors who live in Halsall. But the Tory blue wall was smashed in May and a Labour councillor was elected. He may wish to make an impact simply by asking the useless Borough Council officers responsible for pavements in West Lancashire to attend Parrs Lane and serve enforcement orders. This is a special case because stepping onto the road to avoid hawthorns risks life and limb from speeding cars. It's a no brainer for the new Labour councillor...just make a name for yourself?

Pavements / roads have nothing to do with West Lancs Borough Council - Lancashire County Council are the highway authority. And as you say, it's not the responsibility of 'the council' (West Lancs or LCC) to cut vegetation along roads and pavements along with all their other duties. It's the landowners on which that vegetation stands that should be cutting it back. I'm sure LCC will have enforcement powers to make the landowner do this if it's blocking the pavement, so take it up with your local county councillor if you want to complain about it.

WLBC IS the responsible authority for street cleansing. To quote from an independent report to WLBC by Abse Solutions "The administrative base for the council is in Ormskirk, one of two towns in the borough, the other being Skelmersdale. The population of the borough is 113,400 (mid-2016 estimates) with 48,690 households (from latest Waste Dataflow) and covers 346.8 square kilometres. 1.3 Front line services are provided through the Street Scene directorate, including refuse and recycling services, grounds maintenance, street cleansing and fleet maintenance". Why would WLBC commit to a 14 week programme of street maintenance if LCC was responsible?

Originally Posted by Deep Throat

WLBC IS the responsible authority for street cleansing. To quote from an independent report to WLBC by Abse Solutions "The administrative base for the council is in Ormskirk, one of two towns in the borough, the other being Skelmersdale. The population of the borough is 113,400 (mid-2016 estimates) with 48,690 households (from latest Waste Dataflow) and covers 346.8 square kilometres. 1.3 Front line services are provided through the Street Scene directorate, including refuse and recycling services, grounds maintenance, street cleansing and fleet maintenance". Why would WLBC commit to a 14 week programme of street maintenance if LCC was responsible?

'Street cleansing' is exactly that - cleaning streets (the little units with brushes on the front that are driven along roads and the town centre cleaning litter and other waste). You're wrong anyway - I promise you LCC are the body to contact here. They even have a link on their website to report trees or vegetation in the highway: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-...ion-and-trees/

A pavement is not a highway, I promise you...ask WLBC.

From WLBC "The street cleansing section provides the following services: -? Litter picking? Road & footpath sweeping". And "The current service has 30 full-time posts, made up of;4 x Team Leaders6 x Mechanical Sweeper Drivers (2 of which are LGV qualified)19 x Street Cleansing Operatives (2 posts are currently vacant currently temporarily filled)".

Originally Posted by Deep Throat

From WLBC "The street cleansing section provides the following services: -? Litter picking? Road & footpath sweeping". And "The current service has 30 full-time posts, made up of;4 x Team Leaders6 x Mechanical Sweeper Drivers (2 of which are LGV qualified)19 x Street Cleansing Operatives (2 posts are currently vacant currently temporarily filled)".

Take a read of this leaflet from LCC: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/media/...let-july19.pdf It refers to vegetation overhanging roads AND pavements, and that the county council are the overseeing body for this to make sure it isn't a danger (but that landowners have the legal responsibility for keeping it trimmed back). If you don't believe me, go and report it to WLBC and see how far you get.

Report road cleaning - Lancashire County Council
Report road cleaning
×
Warning!
If you are reporting a diesel/oil spillage or mud on the road, please telephone 0300 123 6780.
Otherwise, use this service to report glass or debris on a road:

• the location of the glass or debris
• a description
• your email address
• up to 5 photographs - max 10mb limit
  Photographs are optional - only take a photo if it is safe to do so

Requests for street cleaning should be reported to your district council.

Originally Posted by Deep Throat

Report road cleaning - Lancashire County CouncilReport road cleaning×Warning!If you are reporting a diesel/oil spillage or mud on the road, please telephone 0300 123 6780.Otherwise, use this service to report glass or debris on a road:

• the location of the glass or debris
• a description
• your email address
• up to 5 photographs - max 10mb limitPhotographs are optional - only take a photo if it is safe to do so

Requests for street cleaning should be reported to your district council.

Vegetation overhanging a pavement is not street cleaning! What is it about this statement from the LCC leaflet I posted that you don't understand? "The county council has a legal responsibility to protect the safety of highway users by making sure that land and property owners keep hedges, trees and shrubs maintained". Look, I'm only trying to help here - if there are issues with the pavement being blocked in Parrs Lane then report it to LCC. Or, as you seem determined to do, report it to WLBC and tell me how far you get.

Thank you for your advice, you are very kind. I have contacted the WLBC Chief Executive who has passed it on to the relevant WLBC officer. When LCC states "contact your district office" who am I to contradict them?