road verges on rural roads - NERC Open Research Archive ...

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aspects of <strong>road</strong>sides, that a more uniform and rational approach to management
will evolve. It is to be hoped that it will be possible then to follow the
resulting policies consistently over many years so that the socially useful
amenity and conservation attributes of <strong>verges</strong> can have a chance to develop
naturally in the long term. It is not envisaged, necessarily desirable or even
practical, that every Authority should follow exactly the same programme but it
is desirable that there should be some agreement over which practices are
beneficial, and which are not, and some greater understanding of their effects.
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It seems therefore, that after a twenty year period of considerable change, there
is now the likelihood in the forseeable future of a period where the criteria for,
and methods of, grass control will not change very much. It will be important
for the countryside that programmes of vegetation control to be practiced during
this period are practical, economic and sympathetic to the natural as well as the
engineering features of the considerable acreage of land involved. At the
present time, however, it is some measure of the fluidity of the situation that
seven Counties (Devonshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Warwickshire, West Suffolk,
West Sussex and the North Riding of Yorkshire)have more or less altered their
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progranmes for 1973 from that of 1972.
The following papers on <strong>road</strong>side management have been issued by the Ministry
of Transport and by the Department of the Environment. Circulars are issued as
advice to Local Authorities in general, whilst Technical Memoranda are instructions
issued to agent authorities only. I
August 1955 Circular 718 to all Highway Authorities. Advice on the subject
of the use of phenoxyacetic acid based hormone weedkillers.
Based on an agreement with the Nature Conservancy. I
April 1956 Circular 726 to all Highway Authorities stressing dangers of
spray drift from the use of weedkiller sprays and of damage
to crops. I
March 1965 Technical Memorandum T2/65 to agent authorities for Motorways
and Trunk <strong>road</strong>s. Instructions for the establishment and
maintenance of grass side slopes, <strong>verges</strong> and central reservations.
Including standard maximum heights of vegetation and mowing
frequencies required to achieve them.
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- 1967 Circular Roads 45/67 to all Highway Authorities. Advice on the
care and maintenance of trees and hedgerows so as to retain
amenities without endangering <strong>road</strong> users.
September 1968 Technical Memorandum T5/68. Superseding T2/65 to agent
authorities for Motorways and Trunk <strong>road</strong>s. More exact
- 1970
instructions and details on the maintenance of established
turf, and an the use of chemicals with reference to conservation
of wildlife.
Marshall Committee report on Highway Maintenance. Section 16
to Appendix 1 "Standards for Amenity functions" include grass
cutting.
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