Investigating
Footway completely obstructed by overgrown hedge
Sent to Oxfordshire County Council less than a minute later
I have previously reported this problem several weeks ago and received a totally incorrect and inadequate response. The metalled footway, in Appleford Drive, Abingdon, to the east of the junction with Welford Gardens, is totally overgrown by the hedge adjacent to 81 Welford Gardens. Your response was to advise me that there was no obstruction of the highway, which is incorrect as the footway forms part of the highway. This footway is part of a busy route used by mothers and children going to and from local schools, also people in the area making their way to the bus stops in Oxford Road. It is also on the route for residents in the area making their way to the Post Office and shops in Northcourt Road. Pedestrians cannot walk on the metalled surface, instead they are forced to walk on the grass verge between the footway and the carriageway. As the weather deteriorates, this will become a slippery, muddy dangerous surface for pedestrians. I am fully aware that it is the responsibility of the owner of the hedge to cut it back. The response that I was expecting from yourselves was that you had identified the owner of the hedge and served notice under S154 of the Highways Act 1980, giving them 14 days in which to cut back the offending vegetation. To take no action is wholly unacceptable.
Council ref: ENQ241014642
Updates
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I first reported this issue 15 Jul 2024 and the report was closed down without any action being taken, for some inexplicable reason. I again reported the matter 20 August 2024, by which time the problem had got worse. To date, 25 October 2024, no action has been taken, and as I predicted in my report, the grass verge, which pedestrians are now compelled to walk on, is deteriorating into a muddy, slippery and dangerous mess. Do we have to wait for an elderly person to slip and break a limb, or a hip, before ant actin will be taken. David Goldsworthy
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