Grass verge damage issue...

[andyoxon]

There is a grassy area area / verge outside the front of our place and other houses. As the road bends around, larger vehicles e.g. bin and also recycling lorry are churning up the grass verge in a big way. Some cars do park on the bend and so in theory the lorries are avoiding the cars.

Anyway the council has responsibility for the grass area, and county council for kerb and 1meter in. Apparently the district council – have spoken to waste dept about vehicles, but say County council is responsible for the verge, and it all depends on ‘resources’. The county council says it is the responsibility of private waste management companies... to take appropriate action to not damage the verge, and they get so many issues with verges in this way.

Ideally highways/ county council should install some verge hardening material; because presumably it’s potentially any heavy vehicle that could damage the verge and not just council vehicles...but this seems unlikely to happen. The verge needs repairing before the ground hardens, but what is stopping the next lorry coming along and digging it up again... I wonder if the council do grants for residents to arrange it themselves...

Any ideas/strategies...?

 

[abchandler]

The sorry state of the nation is that if you put some boulderish size rocks at the edge of the verge to mark the boundary between road and grass, some muppet would sue you for for the damage caused to their vehicle when they transgressed

 

[fossyant]

Yep - some big rocks.....no idea how they got there !

 

[Noodley]

Put the boulders there. Paint them white.

That's what we did. It worked. As did our neighbour, it also worked. There's a pattern of workingness here isn't there?

 

[marinyork]

Put the boulders there, paint them white. You live close by and didn't see anyone add them but it must have been the county council

 

[andyoxon]

Thanks all, thats an idea. What do you think about repairing the verge - ask the district council do do it I suppose; perhaps DIY?

Where's Fred Flintstone when you need him... How about these...
http://www.japangarden.co.uk/Buy-Artificial-Lightweight-Rocks-c-394.html

Perhaps if they were orders of magnitude cheaper...

 

[andyoxon]

That's what we did. It worked. As did our neighbour, it also worked. There's a pattern of workingness here isn't there?

The only snag is we don't own or have responsibility for maintaining this verge...

 

[col]

It makes the place look bad doesnt it,near where i live,the council have replaced the grass verge with tarmac type stuff,looks tidy,and cars can park on it without damageing,and the areas that havnt been done have biggish rocks,painted white funnily enough,which does the trick too.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Is there actually room to get a lorry round the corner without churning up the verge? Maybe the fault here lies with the folk who park their cars in such a way as to block the road.

 

[Noodley]

The only snag is we don't own or have responsibility for maintaining this verge...

Neither do we! But we try to maintain it as best we can. I'd rather just get on with it and then worry about "ownership and responsibility" when the "owner" turns up - then I can highlight to them they owe me for doing such a good job! Until then I'd rather have it looking as best as I can make it.

 

[andyoxon]

Is there actually room to get a lorry round the corner without churning up the verge? Maybe the fault here lies with the folk who park their cars in such a way as to block the road.

RT, IMO people don't generally park on the road, unless they need to - it's just one of those things; we don't park on this bend as it happens. At our previous house (victorian terraced), the road was narrow with resident's cars parked on both sides, and waste contractors used a smaller collection vehicle to access, by necessity.

White polymer 'bollards'/or 2x2 posts or the like - may also be a cheaper, 'safer', option...

 

[Dave5N]

Don't suppose the average bin lorry driver is bothered about a wee scratch from a bit of two be two.

Put some boulders there. Paint them white. Tell the county you dunno where they came from, you think someone said the District Council put them there. Tell the District a bloke in the pub had suggested the county had done it to protect their verge. Chances are nobody at either Authority will be bothered enough to get to the bottom of it.