Recent content by John Calder

Absolutely Jill. Please publicise and encourage interest which might naturally flourish there.

So, for those that are interested in our work to encourage the efforts of Highways England through our local Ragwort Strategy Group - you could follow that on Facebook by searching for @ragworta30a35 or at this link https://www.facebook.com/RagwortA30A35/ If your priorities lie elsewhere that's...

Ester, Natural England process many Ragwort complaints a year and some involve enforcement notices where land owners are obliged to take control actions. So the Act is capable of delivering improved control over the spread of ragwort but only if people actually utilise it. Eradication of the...

Jill, your response is particularly interesting. It's encouraging that you have had a good experience when you got Natural England involved through the Weeds Act complaints system. I made the mistake (not to be repeated) of raising my complaint in late September. They just didn't bother to...

Alec, climate change, and austerity are not the problem on my patch of the A35. The highways contractor wastes the tax-payers money by pulling ragwort in vast quantities after it is seeding. It isn't unrealistic to ask that they get in there earlier and pull more while they are at it. It will...

Ester, the Code of Practice is as legal as you can get it - it passed through Parliament in 2003. Highways England have a declared intention to follow it and its written into their highway maintenance contracts. They must spend thousands of pounds annually pulling ragwort on my local trunk road...

For those that don't realize it - http://www.ragwortfacts.com/ragwort-control-act.html is not a government supported official site but one established by conservationists specifically to undermine the Ragwort element of the Weeds Act - notice it makes NO MENTION of the Ragwort Code of...

That's right PD. So we need to get the direct challenges to Highways in first, then the formal complaint under the act very early in the season to be in with a chance of any enforcement notice from Natural England. I am willing to coordinate multiple complaints but its certain that with no...

Jill, Natural England are in charge of Weeds Act complaints on behalf of DEFRA (and both lacked the conviction they needed when I raised a complaint last year) but I am taking them on too. I have never heard of anybody fined for ragwort non-compliance. I agree that a pressure group might be...

It's messy Jill, but in Shropshire the Highways England map shows their responsibilities extend only to management of A5/M54 West-East, A483 South of Oswestry, A458 West of Shrewsbury, A49 South from Shrewsbury and that's it. The rest would indeed be down to the local Council. I can't help much...

Good to hear from you TJ. That was fast. If this season the ragwort on the A30 is standing less than 50 metres from your land I will be asking a specific favour of you. It would be a formal email request of Highways to deal with it without delay - I'll give you the contact details - and we'd...

Highways England are responsible for controlling the spread of ragwort from their trunk road verges to our adjacent agricultural land (grazing pastures, and hay meadows especially). I think they do a poor job. If you know of a land owner elsewhere in England who is also frustrated by the...