Richard has intervened with Council officers to sort out a potential road safety problem at the triangle in the middle of the road where Mayfield Road meets The Ridgway. The opportunity was taken, at the same time, to confirm with residents whether they want any changes made to the layout of this attractive local feature.

The small triangle of land at this road junction is planted with cotoneaster bushes and three flowering cherry trees. It is understood that up to about the mid-1980’s the area was grassed, though with the trees, and it was planted with cotoneaster bushes at the initiative of local residents. It is believed that there was an understanding that the residents would maintain the bushes, but the bushes have always been maintained by the Council.

Correspondence between residents about the maintenance of the cotoneaster bushes led Richard to convene a meeting at the triangle on 9 August 2012, attended by Bill Bailey, the Council officer in charge of the maintenance of hedges, and several local residents.

Mr. Bailey explained that the Council treated the cotoneaster bushes as a slow-growing hedge and cut them twice a year, normally in July and September. The difficulty arose with the first cut, as advice from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was not to cut any hedges till August, and by then it is likely that the cotoneaster bushes will have grown to a height that means they are interfering with the visibility of drivers. Drivers coming from Mayfield Road have difficulty seeing cars coming down The Ridgway, from the left, as they are obscured by the bushes. In recent years the cut had been scheduled for July but he had usually been alerted by a local resident to a developing safety problem and had immediately arranged for the bushes to be trimmed, ahead of their position in the schedule. The Council would be happy to adopt any solution that was acceptable to the residents.

In discussion the following points were made:

– it seemed unlikely that birds would nest in these bushes, and residents did not believe that this was a real likelihood. Mr. Bailey said that the contractors would always check in any case, and he had no problem about arranging that the first cut would be earlier

– options such as paving the edge of the area or reverting to grass had been proposed but were unpopular with residents, who generally liked the layout of the triangle as it is

– an option would be to cut back the cotoneasters at the corners or along the part of the triangle fronting The Ridgway, but these solutions too would be unpopular

– the problem could be avoided by scheduling an earlier cut, with the additional safeguard that any resident who felt a problem was arising before the first cut could contact the Council or a local Councillor (three LibDem Councillors live in The Ridgway), and the Council would arrange an immediate inspection and cut (if necessary). This was agreed to be the best solution.

Mr. Bailey has now written to the Council’s contractors instructing that next year the first cut will be in June. This will eliminate the potential road safety problem but without making more radical changes to the triangle that residents do not want.

Richard said “There was a potential road safety issue here and I was pleased I was able to sort it out. It was good to take the opportunity to take views on the layout of what is an attractive feature of the area. I am glad we are not going to change it but can at the same time deal with the problem these bushes can cause.”