CaRT grass cutting contract 2022

[LadyG]

16 hours ago, Athy said:

No, I have not done that. What do you mean by "deflect"?

Why do you feel sorry for someone just because they are right? 

This, Athy is an example of deflecting.

It is not a good idea to add organic material to the cut. It should be mixed with other garden refuse,  composted and recycled btw..

I assume Tree monkey is aware of legislation. I expect grass cutting contractors will be replaced when this contract ends, as they have failed. Of course if the contract says two ccuts and these were done in February and March, then it is the CRT who have failed.

I reported lack of grass cutting a few weeks ago, it's still not been cut.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by LadyG

[Athy]

Ooh crikey, it must be 40 years since I last played Monotony, but I think you're right.

16 minutes ago, LadyG said:

This, Athy is an example of deflecting.

 

 

 

 

What is?

[Higgs]

24 minutes ago, LadyG said:

It is not a good idea to add organic material to the cut.

 

And when your propeller fouls in the autumn, you're not going to be able to chastise the trees. 

 

 

[Guest]

I'm visualising an angry pitch fork weilding mob of CWDFers gathering on the outskirts of Upwell ready to launch an attack on Athy Towers......

[LadyG]

Back to the grass cutting contract: CRT asked for uncut areas to be reported. I suggest all forum users should report uncut areas this week, this should give the CRT an idea of the scale of the problem. Though of course they could use the spotters for a report.

The difficulty seems to be lack of supervision of the contract. Don't pay them if they are not providing proof of cutting.

If the contractor has failed, and he clearly has, get someone else to do it and pay them instead. As it is, the grass is so long it will soon be strimmer only, and if left uncut till winter it will be impossible to strim effectively.

Edited June 28, 2022 by LadyG

[Athy]

9 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

I'm visualising an angry pitch fork weilding mob of CWDFers gathering on the outskirts of Upwell ready to launch an attack on Athy Towers......

They could make themselves useful by mowing our lawns while they're here.

[Higgs]

How much of the canal system is expected to be cut? It is nature, it doesn't all need to be manicured. 

 

 

[tree monkey]

13 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

I'm visualising an angry pitch fork weilding mob of CWDFers gathering on the outskirts of Upwell ready to launch an attack on Athy Towers......

The pitchforks will be useful for getting all that grass out of the river

6 minutes ago, LadyG said:

 

If the contracter has failed, and he clearly has, get someone else to do it and pay them.

There's 3 different contractors and I see no proof they have failed, certainly not this early into a new contract 

[LadyG]

6 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

The pitchforks will be useful for getting all that grass out of the river

There's 3 different contractors and I see no proof they have failed, certainly not this early into a new contract 

I am at Silsden, the grass is up to window height, miles of potential towpath mooring uncut. Most of it wil have to be strimmed

Edited June 28, 2022 by LadyG

[Mike Todd]

15 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Fly-tipping is defined as the illegal depositing of waste matter on land. Not sure it applies to throwing stuff into the canal, or you'd have to arrest everyone feeding the ducks.

And, of course, fishermen.

It soon gets to land ie the bottom of the canal where it contributes to the gradual aggregation of silt and a lack of navigable depth.

1 hour ago, Athy said:

Well spotted! Not that I was in jail in the first place.

Ah but you could be - get fined for fly tipping, refuse to pay on the grounds that the judgement is wrong and then jailed for non payment of fine . . .

[Midnight]

I wonder is Athy having a larf at the forum?
He said "If that is so, no one has told our local ducks. When I empty our lawn cuttings into the water, they are soon chomping their way through them."

 

He didn't mention 'river' or 'canal' or 'waterway' - maybe he has a large duck pond in his garden?

[Athy]

7 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

It soon gets to land ie the bottom of the canal where it contributes to the gradual aggregation of silt and a lack of navigable depth.

Ah but you could be - get fined for fly tipping, refuse to pay on the grounds that the judgement is wrong and then jailed for non payment of fine . . .

In theory, I suppose. But fly-tipping is illegal and isn't something I would ever do.

3 minutes ago, Midnight said:

I wonder is Athy having a larf at the forum?
He said "If that is so, no one has told our local ducks. When I empty our lawn cuttings into the water, they are soon chomping their way through them."

 

He didn't mention 'river' or 'canal' or 'waterway' - maybe he has a large duck pond in his garden?

It is indeed an entertaining thread.

We do have a pond, but nothing bigger than a frog and, on one occasion, a dead pigeon goes in there.

[LadyG]

3 minutes ago, Midnight said:

I wonder is Athy having a larf at the forum?
He said "If that is so, no one has told our local ducks. When I empty our lawn cuttings into the water, they are soon chomping their way through them."

 

He didn't mention 'river' or 'canal' or 'waterway' - maybe he has a large duck pond in his garden?

Not if he's been throwing grass cuttings in to it every year, it will be a smelly fermenting swamp

[Ronaldo47]

15 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Fly-tipping is defined as the illegal depositing of waste matter on land. Not sure it applies to throwing stuff into the canal, or you'd have to arrest everyone feeding the ducks.

And, of course, fishermen.

We sometimes take breaks at Warners on Hayling Island. Last year they stopped selling bags of grain to feed the ducks on their lake because of the bad effect the uneaten grain was having on water quality. 

 

I recall a report last year of a council who prosecuted a women under anti-littering legislation, for feeding birds. 

Edited June 28, 2022 by Ronaldo47
typos

[MrsM]

I'm definitely in the rewilding camp. I think it's rather nice to see longer grass and other plants along the towpath. It's a couple of minutes work to clear a small area with our hand scythe when we moor up.

Edited June 28, 2022 by MrsM
Not sure how to spell scythe

[Athy]

5 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Not if he's been throwing grass cuttings in to it every year, it will be a smelly fermenting swamp

'ere, have you been sneaking around our garden when we weren't looking?

[tree monkey]

15 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I am at Silsden, the grass is up to window height, miles of potential towpath mooring uncut. Most of it wil have to be strimmed

Have you checked if that is part of CRTs plan for bankside veg

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, Athy said:

We do have a pond, but nothing bigger than a frog and, on one occasion, a dead pigeon goes in there.

 

 

How does it get in the pond ? - being dead it obviously didn't fly or walk there.

[magnetman]

The bird flu. 

[Higgs]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

The bird flu. 

 

Past tense?

 

 

[Athy]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

The bird flu. 

Yes, it probably did: it flu into the branch of a tree which overhangs the pond, stunned itself and dropped into the water. It was in fact a collared dove, a particularly brainless species whose survival is a mystery.

[blackrose]

18 hours ago, tree monkey said:

I pointed out the issue a fair while ago, eutrophication.

 

The issue isn't your grass cuttings or in fact maybe your neighbours but it becomes an issue if everyone does it, so the approach is just to say don't do it.

 

The natural inflow of organic matter obviously can cause similar issues, but grass tends to be higher in nitrogen, but autumn comes when there is more rain so is more likely to be washed out to sea in rivers, whilst grass cutting season tends to be in lower flow conditions, there will still be a build up of organic matter though.

 

Canals will be different because of the lack of flow and organic matter can build up quicker over time and lead to the bottom being to close to the top much quicker and the dumping of high nitrogen material like grass is likely to cause eutrophication issues much easier.

 

Someone mentioned farmers and their impact and this is a serious issue, both organic matter/soil and nitrogen run off and this is being addressed quite seriously at the moment with additional controls in areas likely to effect rivers.

 

 

It's funny how so many people ignorantly think the dumping or littering of anything "organic" is ok. The term organic is used as an excuse by those uneducated in the subject. Things may well break down but what do they break down into and how does that affect the biological oxygen demand of the water?

[Ronaldo47]

I have mentioned in a post on a different thread how , when we moored at a heavily- overgrown towpath (saplings and  grass at roof height), we acquired a field mouse stowaway. Better pack a mousetrap or two if this is to become the new norm, or bring a cat with you!  

Edited June 28, 2022 by Ronaldo47

[magnetman]

I had a coot which climbed up onto one of my kayaks and died there. 

 

The pigeon was probably on its last legs and went to drink from the poisoned pond. The effort of moving towards the water combined with the avian flu and the dodgy status of said water killed it. 

 

Or it was having a bathe. 

 

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

I have mentioned in a post on a different thread how , when we moored at a heavily- overgrown towpath (saplings and  grass at roof height), we acquired a field mouse stowaway. Better pack a mousetrap or two if this is to become the new norm, or bring a cat with you!  

That's dodgy of there are trees growing between path and canal. I am all for hemlock, cow parsely, etc and long grass but trees is definitely a concern due to their toot systems. 

 

 

[Ronaldo47]

This was a couple of decades ago. I cut down some of the saplings  to make bows and arrows and fishing rods for my young children!   Packing a ball of cotton twine and my swiss army knife was always a must for children's holidays.