Muddy Roads

[Oldbob]

I agree, which is why I said the farmer has either pegged it or his lease is up and there's no intention of ploughing or anything else.
He certainly wouldn't leave it fallow and pay rent for the privilege.

You leave the field untouched as there is no point turning it over until you need it, also it is easier to work and seed on fresh turned land.

As for the mud, if anyone deposits anything onto the highway then it is their responsibility to clean it up.
If farmer won't cleaning then the council will, then bill the farmer for the job plus a nice bit on top at council rates !
This is the same as hedges, cut your hedge back or the council will and bill the owner whether private house or land owner.

As a contractor for the council over the years I could charge a days rate for a compulsory job, be it hedges, roads or removing the stones people put to stop others driving on the grass, this was then billed out plus council's bit on top.
Nice earner when you do two or three a day !!

In legal terms mud is down to tractor driver or whoever, not the owner of the field.

 

[Manic]

Yes I’ve noticed this also.

 

[Shrimp]

Muddy roads!!!!
Imagine what it’s like for a motorbike or a cyclist!
Bowling along quite happily, no great speed needed, round the corner......oh sh....t, tractor left mud on road......bent bike, sore body, maybe even hospital!

Our car is black too, it’s meant to be blue!

 

[Coolcats]

I think a lot of it is the grit and salt spread on the road.

Spot on, we all like safe roads but the Salt that is chucked about seems excessive and really does make the vehicles mucky.

 

[The Wino]

Spot on, we all like safe roads but the Salt that is chucked about seems excessive and really does make the vehicles mucky.

I noticed last week that in a lot of places there's so much the cats eyes don't work.

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[Coolcats]

1 hr drive last week

View attachment 360389

That looks like Salt not Mud

 

[Ivory55]

Another thing on the road is hedge cutting. As the eu law is they are not allowed to cut the hedges every year, there is more growth when they do cut it. Then they use big flail cutters that smash it to bits and loads end up in the road.

 

[Guigsy]

Another thing on the road is hedge cutting. As the eu law is they are not allowed to cut the hedges every year, there is more growth when they do cut it. Then they use big flail cutters that smash it to bits and loads end up in the road.

EU law says no hedge cutting from March to September to prevent thrashing up nesting birds.

 

[The Wino]

Another thing on the road is hedge cutting. As the eu law is they are not allowed to cut the hedges every year, there is more growth when they do cut it. Then they use big flail cutters that smash it to bits and loads end up in the road.

I think they actually are only not allowed to cut hedges in the nesting season and it applies every year or do you know differently?

 

[Coolcats]

EU law says no hedge cutting from March to September to prevent thrashing up nesting birds.

GOV.UK (not EU) and even if it was / is across the EU its not a bad thing
Countryside hedgerows: protection and management
Find out if you can remove or work on countryside hedgerows.

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[Ivory55]

I think they actually are only not allowed to cut hedges in the nesting season and it applies every year or do you know differently?

I was told not every year to promote bird food and I thought it was end of February not March. Only what the tractor drivers have told me when collecting from farm

 

[The Wino]

I was told not every year to promote bird food and I thought it was end of February not March. Only what the tractor drivers have told me when collecting from farm

But where does the only every 2 years come from sounds like a blame the ** for everything again myth to me. I think the RSPB would be up in arms if it changed.

 

[Ivory55]

Next time I get a tractor driver I will interrogate him , only to find out he milks cows , not a hedge cutter. Haha

 

[Ivory55]

When I spoke to them it was because I was complaining about the hedge hitting my mirrors, that’s when they told me the reason.

 

[The Wino]

When I spoke to them it was because I was complaining about the hedge hitting my mirrors, that’s when they told me the reason.

Sounds like they ought to be politicians if there's a problem blame someone else!

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[Wee Bold Davy]

constantly gritting the roads when no frost forecast doesn't help.

Grit, what's that? Torvil and Dean would be at home here

 

[Oldbob]

When I spoke to them it was because I was complaining about the hedge hitting my mirrors, that’s when they told me the reason.

But if the hedge is over a road or obstructing the highway then it can be cut back regardless.
It is just the farmers being tight !
There used to be a few hedgerow schemes around, promoted and paid for by the EU, but that will all stop now.

 

[JonHG]

Had a few weeks in France in September, coming back through the Somme region. They were harvesting beet and potatoes, our van was caked in mud. We had been visiting WW1 sites amongst others and was a tiny reminder of what it was like, very humbling.

Old enough to know better, young enough not to care.

 

[Ivory55]

But if the hedge is over a road or obstructing the highway then it can be cut back regardless.
It is just the farmers being tight !
There used to be a few hedgerow schemes around, promoted and paid for by the EU, but that will all stop now.

Not really true is it. The eu took money from the uk and told them what it could be spent on , and it just happens that hedges was something that they wanted to spend money on. I guess if it was down to saving money the farmer would just grub the hedge out , only the grant system that stops them.

 

[PeteH]

Farmers in general make no attempt to clean their vehicles before leaving fields.

It may have been said but It is mostly farm employees that drive the vehicles. His employer is responsible for any clean-up. We have a Gravel/Reclamation site nearby. The road is often filthy, Most of the village has complained to the council at one time or another, but it still happens. Wife lost a windscreen couple years back, Big stone between the rear Twins, on one of his Trucks, flew out a hit the Screen, Nasty and frightening, reported it to the council, never heard any more though. The insurers picked the bill up We lost out by £50. (excess)

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[Coolcats]

Not really true is it. The eu took money from the uk and told them what it could be spent on , and it just happens that hedges was something that they wanted to spend money on. I guess if it was down to saving money the farmer would just grub the hedge out , only the grant system that stops them.

Oh dear, hedgerows are corridors of haven for wildlife so yes any grants wherever it comes from is great for the enviroment

 

[Oldbob]

Not really true is it. The eu took money from the uk and told them what it could be spent on , and it just happens that hedges was something that they wanted to spend money on. I guess if it was down to saving money the farmer would just grub the hedge out , only the grant system that stops them.

Some years back the stewardship schemes promoted hedge laying and gapping up of hedges with yearly trimming.
They then went to another scheme when that was scrapped of cutting every other year apart from roadside hedges.
Now that's scrapped and you do what you like !
Whilst in the scheme and signed up for it you were paid an extra grant for all the work, just the same as the set aside ground schemes.

Any debris being deposited on the highway, be it mud, gravel, hedge cuttings, and even stones or posts to stop people driving on banks etc is the responsibility of the person putting it there, whether intentionally or not.
So if a rock comes off a lorry wheel and does damage it is down to the driver, the same applies to mud, it is down to the driver of the vehicle that put the mud there, not the previous owner of the mud, ie the land owner.

This was brought home when a driver skidded on mud, crashed and was seriously hurt.
The driver of the vehicle was prosecuted, and heavily fined, not the owner of the land he came from.

If you take all reasonable steps to clean wheels etc then you have a case against it.
The local quarries, and landfill sites all have sweepers full time along with wheel washes, costs them a fair bit ( thank you ) but they are deemed at taking all precautions and therefore not liable for prosecution.

 

[Pete D.]

Same where I live, drove our new car home from dealer couple of weeks ago, 37 miles and it was hacky (Geordie term meaning absolutely filthy thranslated for the benefit of you Southern gentle folk)

Could it have been clarty as well?

 

[Stewart J]

Could it have been clarty as well?

An it was real dorty as weel.

 

[Mclouis700]

Once upon a Time Farmers fitted Scrubbers to the front of the Tractor after leaving mud on the Road, A fairy tale from long long ago

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[Ivory55]

Once upon a time farms were much smaller and the land would be in one block meaning less need to travel on the public highways

 

[Digitalimager]

Are th

Section 148 of the 1980 highways act says that whoever made the mess is responsible for clearing it up as it is dangerous. The photo below is my main road out. The farmer had no intention of cleaning it up. I called highways at 3 on a Friday afternoon and it was cleaned up by 8 that night. I have lived on a farm all my life so don’t give me any crap about “suck it up”. This was simply dangerous especially as my neighbour had to drive through it in the dark after a bout of chemo.


View attachment 360391
Are those your tyre tracks, parked up on the grass verge? ?

 

[gus-lopez]

GOV.UK (not EU) and even if it was / is across the EU its not a bad thing
Countryside hedgerows: protection and management
Find out if you can remove or work on countryside hedgerows.

That ,more or less, protects all hedgerows.

I guess if it was down to saving money the farmer would just grub the hedge out , only the grant system that stops them.

As above , he can't any adjoining agricultural land are protected. Has to apply for permission.