Control of Ragwort on highways and other council property

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Dear West Sussex County Council,
Q1) Please define the maintenance organisation(s) which manage ragwort control on your highway verges and on any other Council-owned property.
Q2) Who leads the organisation(s)?
Q3) What is the geographic scope for each organisation?
Q4) How does one reach them directly with reports of ragwort sightings?
Q5) How many cases of ragwort on your property were reported in 2017? Please provide in each case an incident first reported date, an incident closed date, and an indication of the location (nearest town, grid ref, post code or whatever).
Many thanks
Yours faithfully,
JOHN CALDER

Freedom of Information Act,

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Dear Mr Calder,

 

Thank you for your enquiry, which has been forwarded to the appropriate
officers for a response.  The usual timescale for a response is twenty
working days, that is by or on 25 January 2018.

 

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Yours sincerely,

 

Duncan Macdonald

Customer Relations Officer

 

 

Freedom Of Information |  [1]West Sussex County Council | Location:
County Hall, Chichester PO19 1RQ
E-mail: [2][email address]

 

 

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show quoted sections

CI Group FOI,

4 Attachments

Reference: 326445/997974

 

Dear Mr Calder,

 

I refer to your request dated 28^th December 2017, which has been dealt
with under the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Your request related to Control of Ragwort on highways and other council
property.

 

We have now completed a search for the information which you requested and
confirm that this Authority holds some data relevant to your request.

 

I am now able to respond to you with the following:

 

 

 1.  Please define the maintenance organisation(s) which manage ragwort
control on your highway verges and on any other Council-owned
property.

Where WSCC land is leased out, each tenant is obliged to control ragwort
as it is a noxious weed and this responsibility is contained in their
tenancy agreement. For WSCC-held land outside of the highway, the grounds
maintenance contractor is G Burley & Son Ltd.

 

 2. Who leads the organisation(s)?

Our contact at G Burley & Son Ltd is Mr Nick Kettle, Contracts Director.

 

 3. What is the geographic scope for each organisation?

Specific sites within West Sussex.

 

 4. How does one reach them directly with reports of ragwort sightings?

Any injurious weeds, to include spear thistle, field thistle, broad leaved
dock and ragwort are noted during site visits.  This is in addition to
identifying any notifiable plant species to include Japanese Knotweed. We
also receive reports via the West Sussex County Council website or via the
contact centre.

 

 5. How many cases of ragwort on your property were reported in 2017?
Please provide in each case an incident first reported date, an
incident closed date, and an indication of the location (nearest town,
grid ref, post code or whatever).

There have been no specific reports of ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) on WSCC
land, that have been received by Facilities Management or Valuation and
Estates.

 

 

Q1 Highways verges are maintained under the Term Maintenance Contract with
Balfour Beatty and their Sub Contractors.

 

Q2 West Sussex County Council

 

Q3 All Highway maintainable land within the county

 

Q4 All reports relating to highway matters should be reported either
online through the WSCC website or phoned to the contact centre to be
logged.

 

Q5 One telephone enquiry in 2017 relating to ragwort, reported 02/10/2017
Billingshurst By-Pass, Billingshurst, Closed 10/10/2017.

 

 

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Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

 

Elaine Dickinson

 

Elaine Dickinson

Customer Service Officer

Communities Directorate

West Sussex County Council

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