Council weed problem 'out of control'

While the council says it is tackling the issue of overgrown weeds, an opposition leader claims it has been "out of control" for some time

A council says it will spend £1.7m to help tackle weeds, overgrown verges and graffiti in a bid to keep neighbourhoods tidy.

Newcastle City Council said funding, generated from its one-off income reserves, would increase the number of teams needed.

Weather patterns and the phasing out of pesticide usage has led to an increase in weeds in some areas, the Labour-led council said.

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Colin Ferguson said while the scheme was a good thing, it showed the council had not used its existing resources to tackle "out of control" weeds and graffiti clean-ups effectively.

He said he worried more funding would be needed and the announcement was recognition the council had "not been on top of the issue".

"Weeds are everywhere and in some cases they are quite pronounced so we are worried about the potential damage," he said.

"Graffiti has been a long-running eyesore and the council's current policy is they will only clean racist and obscene graffiti, which is absolutely right, but as soon as it isn't then they won't go after that, so is the money going towards all graffiti cleaning?"

Karen Kilgour said she hoped to see blooms of colour across the city by spring

Deputy Leader of Newcastle City Council Alexander Hay said the council is responsible for removing graffiti and fly-posters from its own buildings, street furniture or monuments.

"We aim to remove all hate speech and offensive, racist and sexist graffiti within two working days of it being reported. Where this is not possible, it will be painted over.

"This covers both council and private property, but to remove it from private property we need the owner's permission.

"All other types of graffiti on council-owned structures only will be removed or obscured when operationally possible."

On weeding, Hay said: "We currently only treat hard surfaces.

"Weedkillers are not used on open spaces such as playing fields and parks. Soft surfaces are not treated where avoidable.

"This grounds maintenance work is being carried out alongside the local services team's usual activities and no existing services have been reduced or cut to fund it."

Council leader Karen Kilgour said: "Financial pressures on local government mean we do have to make difficult calls when it comes to what we can and can't fund.

"We have incredible pressures in terms of highways maintenance, waste collection, social care and housing but everyone should still be able to take pride in their city.

"Residents should not be embarrassed by their communities."

Regular maintenance across Newcastle will continue as normal, with the extra investment targeted at key routes.

It comes as the council also pledged to spend £50m in a bid to fix potholes, although it acknowledged much more was needed.