Devon County Council is responsible for the upkeep of highways in the city, including the treatment of weeds. Earlier this year the City Council agreed that it could do this work – the spraying of highways weeds – on their behalf, if they agreed to cover the associated cost. Unfortunately, Devon County Council was unable to commit to a budget for the works at that time and as a result the weed spraying didn’t proceed. It was then agreed that it would be ineffective to spray the weeds due to the time of year.
The two councils have since concentrated all their efforts on pulling the weeds out in the city.
Council Leader Pete Edwards said that a meeting was necessary to agree the way forward for next year. “We need to sort this out once and for all,” he said. “This is the third year running that we have failed to get to grips with the weeds in Exeter and we can’t afford to have another year with the city looking a mess, especially with 2015 being Rugby World Cup year and the eyes of the world on Exeter.”
