Grass cutting concerns have been raised over fears of causing dangerous road conditions

The Lisburn and Castlereagh City councillor has proposed to write to the newly appointed Department for Infrastructure (DfI) minister John O’Dowd (Sinn Fein) on fears of overgrown roadside verges, outside of council control, causing dangerous driving conditions.

Lisburn South Alderman, Paul Porter said: “I am getting text messages and I would say so our many of my councillor colleagues this time of year again, on the state of our grass verges, grass areas and the long grass that continues to be an issue across our city.

“A lot of these areas are outside council ownership or control, but sadly the council always gets the blame for these issues.

“Two cuts a year, and I believe that’s right, that wouldn’t do you a month, let alone the summer season, so how Roads Service can justify that is beyond me.

“Some of these road junctions are very dangerous when the grass is overgrown.“I do hope that going forward that the council can work closer with Roads Service in regards to the amount of grass cuts take place.“I propose that we write to the Minister, and I know the budgets are very difficult and I appreciate that, but this is a major issue for a lot of our residents.”

Mayor Andrew Gowan responded: “I can’t image anybody is going to object to such a letter being sent.”