Dear Editor,
The hedgerow on Paganhill Lane has got so overgrown that both my children and I were stung by stinging nettles.
My children go to nursery four days week, so we need to walk down and up Paganhill Lane with a double buggy multiple times per-week. Walking on the other side of the road isn’t much better because we have to cross a busy road at rush-hour, navigate lots more overgrown hedges, narrow pavements, and people parking on the pavement after the railway bridge, which often means there’s not enough room to push the pram past.
I spent an hour cutting the brambles and nettles back. The area is not being properly maintained, as is evident from the overgrow bank full of brambles and nettles. The council is only maintaining this area after locals have complained, and not as a regular occurrence.
It took five weeks from my initial complaint in May for the work to be completed in June. When the area was cut back by GCC they cut back the bare minimum. I was advised by GCC on the phone that it wasn’t cut in May because of No Mow May. Although the hedgerow was cut back in mid-June, it hasn’t been maintained since, which has allowed it to overgrow to a dangerous size.
With children from Archway, Marling and SHS returning to school, the road is busy with cars on the school run. Children often step out into the road to pass each other as the pavement is so narrow, and I’ve seen them step out without checking for cars.
Izzy Fraser,
Paganhill
