Becky Curtis can't understand what all the fuss is about. She says there's still plenty of room on the pavement and nobody should have any trouble getting past the shrubs.
I can't understand all the fuss either. Why doesn't the council just tell the complainers (surely no more than two or three) that the shrubs aren't an obstacle and they have better things to do than monitor shrub size? This is the proverbial sledgehammer being used to crack a nut.
In out neighbourhood there are loads of privet hedges that encroach on the pavement but nobody ever suggests cutting them back. Even cars parked partly on the pavement are never sanctioned, although they're a genuine hazard to pedestrians.
Parish councils have dozens of important duties. You'd think they would focus on something more essential than a few exuberant shrubs. Some under-employed jobsworth obviously thought this was an excellent way of killing some time.
Mrs Curtis, a longstanding member of Dedham Horticultural Society, is resisting the council's demand with the support of many villagers. She says lots of people compliment her on her front garden.
It's not clear what enforcement action might be taken. Will the council send in some shrub trimmers? Will Mrs Curtis be fined? Will her rubbish bins not be emptied? The mind boggles.
Pic: Becky Curtis and the naughty shrubs
Well, as a person who walks everyday, I do find it annoying when trees and shrubs obstruct public walkways. And it’s especially difficult if you’re pushing a stroller. Is there a reason she can’t trim the shrubs or ask someone to do it for her?
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Looking at the first few comments, I see there's general disagreement with my view! I think she feels cutting the shrubs back would spoil the look of them. And she thinks there's plenty of room for a stroller or a mobility scooter.
DeleteIf you can't walk on the sidewalk and have to step out in the street, that's a hazard to pedestrians. Someone could get hit by a car.
ReplyDeleteHere, you would get fined for not keeping the growth trimmed back from the sidewalk. Or the county would just come out in some places and completely cut all that back or cut it down.
There are also machines that will come and trim around the fire hydrants and will decimate any plants, tree's shrubs ect that are close to them.
Mary: Clearly things are a lot stricter in your area, and rather lax over here. I often have to step into the road to get past cars and vans partly on the pavement, but nothing is ever done about it.
DeleteIf council really has a right and a need to trim the shrubs, they can do it themselves, neatly.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: It looks as if that's what the council will do, given Mrs Curtis isn't budging.
DeleteIs she unable to trim them or does she simply not want to do so? Are her shrubs being singled out as you seem to suggest while others in the community have shrubs covering the entire sidewalk as one of her's appears to do? The answers to those questions would have bearing on my reaction to what should occur.
ReplyDeleteWhere I live the sidewalks have to be kept clear for pedestrians. Occasionally, people use wheelchairs, self-propelled, electric. People walk with their small children and pets on a leash, use strollers. I've seen people with limited mobility, some due to age, others of all ages probably recovering from surgery. Blind people. Auto drivers often ignore the residential speed limit so having to step into a parkway and down a curb would be impossible in some instances based on the landscape, but dangerous due to traffic in any event. I think sidewalks anywhere should be kept clear, otherwise why have them.
Joared: She just doesn't want to trim them, she doesn't see the need. As I said to Mary, things seem a lot stricter in the States. But certainly I agree there should be enough space for people with strollers, mobility scooters etc to get past. I suppose the question is, how much space is "enough"?
DeleteMuch fuss about little. Let green plants grow. We have more important things to do.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: It looks to me as if there's enough room for a stroller or mobility scooter to pass the shrubs. I think the council is being a bit over-zealous. And yes, there are more important things to do. But personally I'm a keen pruner and I would have pruned those shrubs down some time ago.
DeletePoor lady. She needs to have help to make some difficult decision.
ReplyDeleteSusan: Do I detect a note of sarcasm? Obviously a very easy decision, but the council says it's the wrong one.
DeleteOn a quick glance at the pic I'd say a wheelchair would have much difficulty in using the path and also if two strollers came in opposite directions there would be a kind of dangerous impasse. I'm with the council on this. But maybe it could provide distance protocols on such matters to enforce their case?
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: It's interesting that so many comments support the council. I guess I see things from a rather different Northern Ireland perspective. A lot of our pavements are as narrow as the one in the photo, and certainly wouldn't allow two strollers side by side. The roads themselves are often quite narrow, so widening the pavements wouldn't be possible. Journalists often fail to follow up stories, so I may never discover the outcome.
DeleteWhere I live, the plants will overgrow everything in a briary mass.
ReplyDeleteI think she should trim the hedges. I do understand not wanting to cut into a beautiful plant. But most hedges will regrow leaves very quickly. My reasoning is that the sidewalk is there for walking. If they have paid to pave the sidewalk, then the benefit should be there.
We don't own the land that borders the road here in the States. Easements depend on the traffic and size of the road. The easement on my road is 50 feet from the road median.
Ann: True, shrubs usually grow pretty quickly, so cutting them back isn't really a big deal. Road easements must be a specifically USA thing. We don't have them here in the UK. We can use the pavements and roads freely with no legal implications.
DeleteKylie's comment hasn't appeared on my post. She says: "The shrubs are very pleasing to the eye and pruning would destroy the look of them.
ReplyDeleteI need space for walking and I can't really just go onto the road so I understand the issue but it does seem that there is room for at least one person to walk along there."
Kylie: My thoughts entirely. It's not as if the shrubs are stretching into the road. There seems to be enough room for at least one person to pass by.
DeleteI looked at her feet and the sidewalk. I can see it would work if you were as skinny and upright as she is. I do not think I could get my scooter past that bush without snagging my arm on the bush, though.
ReplyDeleteGuess I should have signed that since your blog insists I remain anonymous. Linda Sand
DeleteLinda: The space left by the shrub certainly isn't generous, but I wouldn't have thought it was much of an obstacle.
DeleteWay to go Becky, stand firm, keep your shrubs. I don't think they look too bad, I've seen worse near where I live, and the other day whilst walking Rufus a car was parked on the pavement, I had to pass on the road, as would a wheelchair and pram.
ReplyDeletePolly: Here in Northern Ireland, it's normal for cars to be parked half on the pavement, especially in narrow roads where cars parked normally would block the road.
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