Getting to the root of the problem

Volunteers sort out the weeds in Nailsea Town Centre

Nailsea Town Councillors and volunteers united on Monday 8 July to weed and tidy Nailsea Town Centre. This followed a discussion by Councillor’s and a decision to get together and clear the weeds around the ‘Happy To Chat Benches’ near the telephone box museum. This initiative grew with John Belton from the Nailsea Climate Emergency Group and a few of his crew coming on board, along with volunteers from Nailsea in Bloom and others.

Cllr Graham Parsons said “It was great to be involved in something really positive for the community. The High Street looks so much better now. We had so many lovely comments from lots of people. I felt really proud of our efforts”.

He continued, “ I think it is really important that we listen to our residents and work with North Somerset Council (NSC) to tackle the weed problem in the longer term, together with coming up with a short-term plan for weed management. We have already asked NSC to bring forward the date of their weed spraying for next year and NSC have said they will continue to support us in the manual weeding of the high street.”

John Carson, Waste and Contracts Manager from North Somerset Council, came along as promised on the day. His team will be completing the rest of the High Street and also the alleyway alongside the Factory Shop in the next couple of weeks, together with the spot spraying of weeds throughout the town within four weeks.

Wendy Mobbs from Nailsea in Bloom said “Volunteers from Nailsea in Bloom, Town Council litter pickers and environmental groups met on the High Street and hand removed all weeds from Waitrose to the Link Road. Representatives from North Somerset came along too and agreed to hand weed the rest of the High Street in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to all who came and to Mark at Hunter Leahy for the lovely coffee, tea and biscuits”