Council "weed" removal

[Happyme5]

On 14/06/2025 at 18:03, malumbu said:

Hmm, you seem to have an agenda.  I like ait of measured that they have done to promote active travel, improving pedestrian and cyclist safety, whilst improving the streetscape. I avoid making sweeping statements about wildlife management as I don't know enough about their policies, and expect some in Southwark are passionate about what they do. Go along to a relevant local meeting and ask, I doubt if you will change a thing by posting here.

 

I have no agenda just a simple response expressing my thoughts and experience.  

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Could it be dog pee that has done the damage?

[Sue]

3 hours ago, Peckhamgatecrasher said:

Could it be dog pee that has done the damage?

Maybe. Does that kill grass?

If so, possibly the same dog that has left its poo outside my house - pretty sure it's not fox poo.

[Nigello]

I’ve noticed a lot more of that green grass that looks a bit like corn or barley. Is it naturally-occurring or should I suspect the hand of a “guerrilla gardener”? 

[Sue]

32 minutes ago, Nigello said:

I’ve noticed a lot more of that green grass that looks a bit like corn or barley. Is it naturally-occurring or should I suspect the hand of a “guerrilla gardener”? 

I'm not sure a guerilla gardener would plant grasses,unless they are intending to harvest them (possibly covered in dog pee) 🤣

[Penguin68]

2 hours ago, Nigello said:

I’ve noticed a lot more of that green grass that looks a bit like corn or barley.

Are you talking about Timothy grass - which is terrible for hay fever? In which case it's wind dispersed and a nightmare. 

[Nigello]

No, it’s not fluffy and wispy. It’s like a miniature and green version of wheat. Anyway, there’s a lot of it about! 

[Earl Aelfheah]

On 20/06/2025 at 14:04, Nigello said:

No, it’s not fluffy and wispy. It’s like a miniature and green version of wheat. Anyway, there’s a lot of it about! 

Do you mean ‘flea darts’ (as we called them as kids)?

…these:

[CPR Dave]

It's just grass. 

Wheat is also grass.

[Nigello]

Yes, it’s this kind. I only noticed it because it’s in more places than I’ve seen it before.  

[Rockets]

6 hours ago, Earl Aelfheah said:

Do you mean ‘flea darts’ (as we called them as kids)?

Flea darts...now there's a thing from my past I had long forgotten about - goodness our !

This thread title does always bring a smile to my face as I can't help but think it suggests a campaign to prevent the removal of someone's stash!

[LordshipPain]

A problem with weeds being left to grow on pavements is that a lot of local residents appear to think it gives them permission to litter which then accumulates around these tufts of urine-soaked weeds. Saying that, the principal litter louts are the recycling workers that do the blue bins. I followed them down one of the roads and at every single stop they dropped between 5 and 11 separate pieces of rubbish. There were hundreds of pieces dropped on Underhill Road alone.

[Sue]

1 hour ago, LordshipPain said:

A problem with weeds being left to grow on pavements is that a lot of local residents appear to think it gives them permission to litter which then accumulates around these tufts of urine-soaked weeds. Saying that, the principal litter louts are the recycling workers that do the blue bins. I followed them down one of the roads and at every single stop they dropped between 5 and 11 separate pieces of rubbish. There were hundreds of pieces dropped on Underhill Road alone.

That's a gross exaggeration.

All of it.

But maybe you just intended to provoke that response? 

Edited June 24 by Sue

[Happyme5]

LOL.   Lazy ass people who choose to litter!!!!   Really greenery does not cause anti social behaviour.   But I gotta say thanks for the giggle.

On 07/06/2025 at 16:32, Mabaker said:

Sue. It's a long journey trying to change the long established mindset that many of us grew up with, namely cultivated flowers are good and wild flowers anywhere other than in the wild are bad. My job as a child was to go round pulling up all the dandelions that dared to invade my Dad's pride and joy of a garden. I still battle with my Mum, trying in vain to convince her of the benefits of so called weeds in her garden. Her neighbours, all of a certain age, are the same. Anyone who doesn't attack any weed with gusto is the subject of Mum's disapproving neighbours. We can only keep trying to convince others of the benefits of these much maligned flowers.

 

You are so on point.   How can we work as a collective to make "The establishment move forward".   Net 0 is coming in fast.   And the only way forward is for everyone to work together 

[Jenijenjen]

A Veolia man has just worked his way down my street digging out the weeds. Looking good.  No weed killer in sight.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

This is what someone has done in Gowlett Road

 

 

[Sue]

5 hours ago, Peckhamgatecrasher said:

This is what someone has done in Gowlett Road

 

 

That's lovely! Good for them!

[Earl Aelfheah]

I was handed a packet of wildflower seeds the other day at the station. May take a little walk and see where I can scatter them.

For the weed nerds amongst you, this is interesting https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdy9xySA/ 

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

My lord, that was a fascinating video.

[Sue]

1 hour ago, Peckhamgatecrasher said:

My lord, that was a fascinating video.

It was. I hadn't realised I was a "weed nerd" 🤣

[LordshipPain]

On 24/06/2025 at 21:08, Sue said:

That's a gross exaggeration.

All of it.

But maybe you just intended to provoke that response? 

No need to provoke you since you respond constantly to everything. It is not a gross exaggeration - I took photos. Do you not like people answering back? A bit head girl aren't you.

On 24/06/2025 at 22:49, Happyme5 said:

LOL.   Lazy ass people who choose to litter!!!!   Really greenery does not cause anti social behaviour.   But I gotta say thanks for the giggle.

You are so on point.   How can we work as a collective to make "The establishment move forward".   Net 0 is coming in fast.   And the only way forward is for everyone to work together 

Unkempt roads and weed-lifted pavements with dog faces bags all over the place - when the blue bags, which are regularly not collected by the LA, are split open by foxes. Again, I have photos.

[LordshipPain]

Photos.

Every single piece of litter in that photo (if you enlarge it you can see lots more pieces) was dropped by the bin men in the background. I don't blame them - it would destroy their backs to pick it all up. Perhaps they should try to not drop so much litter in the first place... 

These photos were taken on the 1st March - a Saturday. The street cleaner, who does an excellent job around Underhill Road and Melford Road, bags up the rubbish and leaves them on a Thursday generally. They are supposed to be collected the same day or the next day at the latest. They weren't collected.

The first photo was November. It was a very large number of poo bags. I reported it to Southwark but they took 3 days to collect it. In the meantime the bags were squashed and the faeces was spread everywhere, photo 2. It would mean that everyone who walked along that bit of road will have spread it a bit further, along with the vehicles, so that it went into a lot of people's houses. 

Over to you Sue.

In this photo you can see the litter that was dropped by the bin men (I feel bad as they are really nice and work really hard often going into people's properties to get the bins that weren't put out - usually at a semi-jog speed; it must be exhausting and its not their fault that Southwark doesn't give them enough time to do their job properly. Maybe they should sack their team of EDF astro-turfers to save some money?), the split blue bag with some birds sorting the contents on the pavement, and the refuse truck in the background. I don't blame the workers, I blame Southwark. I am also annoyed at you, Sue, for saying this is an exaggeration and is basically a lie; something you do all over the forum (along with the cycling trolls). I have a lot more pictures too.

[Mabaker]

Our refuse collectors leave rubbish all the way down the hill after they have emptied the bins. Everywhere you go you see rubbish everywhere. On some days walking through the high street in Peckham can be truly depressing with plastic bags and paper blowing around everywhere, Peckham and other streets deserve better than this Council complacency. I'm sure it wasn't so bad back in the day. Councils everywhere, faced with cuts in revenue, must have decided a long time ago  that litter picking  and rubbish collection were not so important. I think a clean, tidy environment makes everyone feel better about their home environment. Btw, I'm ok with a few weeds. They are just wild flowers in an inconvenient place.

[Happyme5]

5 hours ago, Mabaker said:

Our refuse collectors leave rubbish all the way down the hill after they have emptied the bins. Everywhere you go you see rubbish everywhere. On some days walking through the high street in Peckham can be truly depressing with plastic bags and paper blowing around everywhere, Peckham and other streets deserve better than this Council complacency. I'm sure it wasn't so bad back in the day. Councils everywhere, faced with cuts in revenue, must have decided a long time ago  that litter picking  and rubbish collection were not so important. I think a clean, tidy environment makes everyone feel better about their home environment. Btw, I'm ok with a few weeds. They are just wild flowers in an inconvenient place.

I think you have been very kind towards the the council.  And even kinder in your description of Peckham High Street (LOL). Peckham High Street Rye Lane is awful.  I know it is a very controversial opinion   but I am happy that some parts are going to developed and re built.   The dirty pavements, graffiti shops that put their stock all over pavements and racing cyclists make it not an enjoyable place to be in.  In the old days any business would have to keep their premises in good order.   I am much happier being near a simple bit of over greenery or weed.   It is much cleaner and feels safer to be next to.   Some parts of Peckham are plagued by Zombie like people who have fallen prey to substance abuse.  And I don't see the council putting much effort into helping these poor lost souls.

[Penguin68]

The Veolia teams that have serviced Underhill for the last few years (certainly before lockdown) have generally been very tidy. A few spillages but not noticeably many, and often from very overfilled bins. I have seen them take brooms to sweep up real accidental spillages. There are problems with fox or cat scattered rubbish from accessible bins, and from food wrappers discarded by passers bye, but that is neither Veolia's nor the council's fault.