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CaRT grass cutting contract 2022


Pie Eater

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Does anyone know whether the CaRT grass cutting contract is available for boaters to view.

 

I am aware that the cutting regime has changed but the grass around the locks has become so long that you cannot see the trip hazards so either the frequency of cut is wrong or the new contractor is missing areas.

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Isn't it now two cuts phased across the system over a year? So some will get cut in the growing season and some won't. I carry a strimmer these days as half the places I used to moor are overgrown.

I do think there's more to worry about than long grass, though. I suppose the horses ate it, once.

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My understanding is that the new contractors have failed to cut the grass, can't put it clearer than that!

I've broken one ankle this year, not wanting another fall, but I can't strim the grass before I've actually moored up! I have however put down a large mat to allow access across the verge.

Edited by LadyG
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Cruising through Rugely the other day we were quite surprised to see canal-side prunings (grass, weeds, hedge cuttings etc) being blown off the towpath into the cut by a team of workers. Created a lot of mess in the water. Can't decide whether that was good practice or not.

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12 minutes ago, MrsM said:

Cruising through Rugely the other day we were quite surprised to see canal-side prunings (grass, weeds, hedge cuttings etc) being blown off the towpath into the cut by a team of workers. Created a lot of mess in the water. Can't decide whether that was good practice or not.

They've done that for years. I think it's a result of CRT getting complaints about speeding boats.

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18 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

They've done that for years. I think it's a result of CRT getting complaints about speeding boats.

Part of me thought, "What's the problem with a bit more plant material in the cut?" Another part of me thought, "You lazy bleeders! I bet you are charging CRT for the removal and disposal of green waste." They certainly looked rather sheepish as we passed and directed the leaf blowers away from the water.

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7 hours ago, MrsM said:

Part of me thought, "What's the problem with a bit more plant material in the cut?" Another part of me thought, "You lazy bleeders! I bet you are charging CRT for the removal and disposal of green waste." They certainly looked rather sheepish as we passed and directed the leaf blowers away from the water.

It will likely contribute to the bottom coming ever closer to the top.

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A few days ago on Limehouse cut there was a self propelled lawn mower being used to mow the gravel towpath / cycle superhighway and a bloke with a strimmer knocking down the occasional valerian plant at the edge (thankfully not the canal edge side as the plants are rather pretty). 

 

They came back, mower still propelling itself but this time the geyser with the strimmer had a noisy leaf blower for creating huge clouds of dust.

 

Nice work if you can get it !

Edited by magnetman
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5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

A few days ago on Limehouse cut there was a self propelled lawn mower being used to mow the gravel towpath / cycle superhighway and a bloke with a strimmer knocking down the occasional valerian plant at the edge (thankfully not the canal edge side as the plants are rather pretty). 

 

They came back, mower still propelling itself but this time the geyser with the strimmer had a noisy leaf blower for creating huge clouds of dust.

 

Nice work if you can get it !

We had a chap pass the mooring this week on a ride on mower, I admit I was a bit surprised because I thought  CRT had stopped ride on mowers being used water side, no strimmer or blower in use though

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8 hours ago, MrsM said:

Part of me thought, "What's the problem with a bit more plant material in the cut?" Another part of me thought, "You lazy bleeders! I bet you are charging CRT for the removal and disposal of green waste." They certainly looked rather sheepish as we passed and directed the leaf blowers away from the water.

 

 

It us actually illegal under the "Environmental Permitting Regulation 2016".

Putting vegetable matter in the waterways causes a depletion of oxygen in the water as the matter starts ti break down / rot.

 

A 'Discharge' licence must be applied for (and granted) to do so.

 

 

You’re carrying out a ‘water discharge activity’ if you cut or uproot a large amount of vegetation in or next to any inland freshwater and let it fall into the water. You would usually need an environmental permit for a water discharge activity to do this.

 

 

When you’re exempt from needing a permit

You’re exempt from needing an environmental permit if you can meet the following conditions. You must:

  • let anyone that may be affected know in advance when you’ll be cutting vegetation (this could include owners of structures within or on the watercourse, owners of designated biodiversity sites, fisheries or boating interests)
  • have enough flow to carry away the vegetation
  • not cause pollution

You must decide whether there’s enough flow to carry away the cuttings. If the flow isn’t strong enough to carry the vegetation downstream, you must remove the vegetation immediately and follow the waste exemption guidance.

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That's interesting Alan and almost certainly confirms that they were acting improperly. I think I will now email CRT and alert them, although I appreciate it may be a little too late. They could, of course, had successfully applied for the appropriate consent.

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

It us actually illegal under the "Environmental Permitting Regulation 2016".

 

 

 

 

 

That's interesting. The Middle Level people have emptied their bank mowings into the water ever since we've lived here (15 years now). But I suppose as they're the water authority they don't need to grant themselves a permit.

  Surely much of the vegetation which goes into the water is eaten by fish and ducks.

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5 minutes ago, MrsM said:

That's interesting Alan and almost certainly confirms that they were acting improperly. I think I will now email CRT and alert them, although I appreciate it may be a little too late. They could, of course, had successfully applied for the appropriate consent.

There's a bit in this about allowing veg into the canal

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/specialist-teams/maintaining-our-waterways/vegetation-management/vegetation-faqs

 

Although in support Of the contractor it can be bloody difficult to avoid particularly when strimming.

 

To the original point about lack of grass cutting, I suspect some of it is due to new contractors and mobilisation of the cutting teams, probably mixed with a lack of supervision an unfamiliarity with the actual ground conditions and what needs cutting, the new contract has only really been in operation for 4 months or so and that might mean some areas might have only been visited once so far.

hopefully the CRT contract management are keeping a close eye in these early days but even so they are likely cutting them a bit of slack at the moment 

2 minutes ago, Athy said:

That's interesting. The Middle Level people have emptied their bank mowings into the water ever since we've lived here (15 years now). But I suppose as they're the water authority they don't need to grant themselves a permit.

  Surely much of the vegetation which goes into the water is eaten by fish and ducks.

The issue is

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication

 

How much of an effect grass cuttings will have depends on a lot of things but it's less likely to be an issue on rivers where water is being replaced by fresh all the time.

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3 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Although in support Of the contractor it can be bloody difficult to avoid particularly when strimming.

 

Our moorings were recently strimmed, with the cuttings getting flicked onto moored boats & into the water due to the direction of rotation of the 'string'.

I pointed out that he he went (example only) 'North to South' instead of 'South to North' the rotation would flick the cuttings away from the boats and onto the bankside.

 

Moment of enlightment .................  Yes - that'd work !

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11 minutes ago, Athy said:

That's interesting. The Middle Level people have emptied their bank mowings into the water ever since we've lived here (15 years now). But I suppose as they're the water authority they don't need to grant themselves a permit.

  Surely much of the vegetation which goes into the water is eaten by fish and ducks.

 

I think that the "Environmental Permitting Act" being a law passed by Parliament is applicable Nationally so not an "optional extra"

And cover all "Inland freshwaters"

 

Extract :

 

Citation, commencement, extent and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 and come into force 21 days after the day on which these Regulations are made.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales only.

(3) They apply in relation to—

(a)England and the sea adjacent to England out as far as the seaward boundary of the territorial sea, and

(b)Wales, within the meaning given by section 158 of the Government of Wales Act 2006(1).

(4) In paragraph (3)(a), the sea adjacent to England is so much of the sea adjacent to Great Britain as—

(a)is not the sea adjacent to Scotland, and

(b)does not form part of Wales.

(5) In paragraph (4)(a), the sea adjacent to Scotland has the same meaning as the internal waters and territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland has by virtue of section 126(2) of the Scotland Act 1998(2).

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17 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Our moorings were recently strimmed, with the cuttings getting flicked onto moored boats & into the water due to the direction of rotation of the 'string'.

I pointed out that he he went (example only) 'North to South' instead of 'South to North' the rotation would flick the cuttings away from the boats and onto the bankside.

 

Moment of enlightment .................  Yes - that'd work !

Yeah that's the trick, but to be fair if your walking a few miles in the "wrong" direction...

Tbh there should be no excuses for spraying moored boats with grass because due to the way strimmers throw the cut grass, although people should realise that some debris is almost inevitable even when care is being taken

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16 hours ago, LadyG said:

My understanding is that the new contractors have failed to cut the grass, can't put it clearer than that!

I've broken one ankle this year, not wanting another fall, but I can't strim the grass before I've actually moored up! I have however put down a large mat to allow access across the verge.

 

Did you inform CRT that their failure to cut back the bankside vegetation resulted in a broken ankle? You might even be able to claim compensation because their failure to consider older customers could demonstrate a breach of their duty of care.

 

I wonder if the savings on vegetation management will be eroded by increased compensation claims?

 

In my opinion CRT need to strike a better balance between cost cutting and safety risks introduced by excessively ling vegetation.

 

I think they had it about right up to this year. 

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3 hours ago, Athy said:

That's interesting. The Middle Level people have emptied their bank mowings into the water ever since we've lived here (15 years now). But I suppose as they're the water authority they don't need to grant themselves a permit.

  Surely much of the vegetation which goes into the water is eaten by fish and ducks.

Unlikely to be eaten by anything living on or under the water, the longer strands of bramble and the like will add to materials fouling the prop, the rest will hasten silting up, depending on quantity going in.

 

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Around here, the new contractors seem to be just trimming a 2ft wide strip where the towpath users walk. The fringe from there to the canal edge is being left wild. I foresee a few more twisted ankles, or worse, from people setting stepping off into unseen holes.

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5 minutes ago, Big Bob W said:

Around here, the new contractors seem to be just trimming a 2ft wide strip where the towpath users walk. The fringe from there to the canal edge is being left wild. I foresee a few more twisted ankles, or worse, from people setting stepping off into unseen holes.

 

Hence my post about duty of care, cost cutting and compensation claims.

Edited by cuthound
To remove a space masquerading as a letter.
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3 hours ago, tree monkey said:

Although in support Of the contractor it can be bloody difficult to avoid particularly when strimming.

I agree but they were actually using a leaf blower to send all of the cuttings and trimmings into the canal. We watched them do it. As we came near the leaf blower operator moved away from the water edge and aimed his blower away from the water and towards the hedgerow.

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1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

Did you inform CRT that their failure to cut back the bankside vegetation resulted in a broken ankle? You might even be able to claim compensation because their failure to consider older customers could demonstrate a breach of their duty of care.

 

I wonder if the savings on vegetation management will be eroded by increased compensation claims?

 

In my opinion CRT need to strike a better balance between cost cutting and safety risks introduced by excessively ling vegetation.

 

I think they had it about right up to this year. 

No, the ankle was not related to grass cutting, but it happened so easily, I am more aware of uneven towpath verges.

I doubt compensation would be worth the hassle. A colleague at work had an injury and claimed, essentially for medical expenses.  She had to go to some sort of court where it was said it was partly her fault! For being at work, I assume.

I don't think CRT do anything to care for boaters, judging by the huge holes where mooring bollards have fallen in to the cut at abandoned swing bridges and the like, the handrails which seem very fragile, equipment fails etc.

Edited by LadyG
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