Frequently Asked Questions
How do I report weed growth in my street?
Before logging a report for weeds on your road, please check the Weeding programme on the Council or Hounslow Highways website, to see if your street is scheduled in for weed removal. The Council and Hounslow Highways are working in partnership to deliver a dedicated weed removal service, which is derived using four years’ worth of weeding and cleansing data from residents’ reports.
If you’d like to report a location that does not appear on the programme and cannot wait for the fortnightly ward-based street cleansing teams to attend, please submit a report at FixMyStreet and an officer will be arranged to inspect the location.
We encourage residents to send in photos with their report so that our operatives can determine the severity of the problem and decide what action needs to be taken.
How do Hounslow Highways and the Council decide which carriageways (roads/pavements) appear on the Weeding programme?
We reviewed the feedback we have received from you, and how the 2022 weeding season progressed, and used this to target roads and areas appropriately. The most severely affected carriageways will appear on this year’s Weeding programme.
However, this does not mean that other roads will not be attended to. When we receive reports about individual roads (via FixMyStreet) outside of the Weeding programme, they will be prioritised by severity, and reactive teams dispatched accordingly.
This year, we’re also providing a Deep Cleansing programme that will support the work of the fortnightly routine ward-based street cleansing service.
What streets are attended to during the weed removal period?
Every street in the borough will be attended to via one of the three Council weed removal services (Weeding programme, Deep Cleanse Programme, Fortnightly Routine Street Cleansing).
How often does Hounslow Highways and the Council remove weeds?
Dedicated weed removal is actioned through the Weeding and Deep Cleansing programmes. The roads listed in the weed removal programme will receive two visits by the weeding teams during the season.
Ward-based street cleansing also takes place fortnightly, and includes some weed removal alongside routine cleansing. You can review when your road is due for routine street cleansing via this link. Hounslow Highways | Street Cleansing
When does the wedding programme for 2023 start?
To ensure we target and address every road identified in the 2023 schedule, we have extended the programme by eight weeks. The programme started in February, and is scheduled to continue until the first week of November 2023.
How are the weeds removed?
As a part of our commitment to ensuring a cleaner and greener Hounslow, the use of chemicals to treat weeds was stopped in 2020.
We now remove weeds manually rather than using chemicals, which could be harmful to the environment. Weeds can be controlled without chemicals, but persistent or deep-rooted weeds can be difficult to eradicate.
Manually removing weeds means they do grow back faster, so ongoing control is likely to be necessary. This is why we have extended the programme, dedicating two visits to every road listed in the Weeding and Deep Cleansing programme.
The Council only uses chemicals to address invasive weeds such as Japanese Knotweed and Mares Tail.
When is chemical weed killer used?
There are some very specific instances in which the Council uses glyphosate (a chemical weed killer). This is in the case of invasive, especially harmful weeds, like Japanese Knotweed and Mares Tail.
What is Hounslow Highways and the Council’s weeding schedule?
The Council and Hounslow Highways has three response programmes to weeds:
Weeding programme: Areas that are treated as a part of the Weeding programme are the most severely affected areas. These streets have been identified by reviewing four years of data and compiling resident feedback. These areas will receive two visits by operatives, due to the labour intensive and time-consuming nature of the manual weed removal.
The longer, drier and hotter summers make conditions considerably favourable for weeds to grow aggressively, so it is challenging.
During the year, the team continues to collect and analyse data and reports of the biggest problem areas before sending a Network Steward to assess the situation.
Deep Cleanse programme: As part of our commitment to improving our weeding and street cleansing service, we have launched a Deep Cleanse programme for 2023. This programme is for areas that might not be as affected as those areas encompassed in the Weeding programme, but where the weeds need more attention than usual.
This focuses on several activities taking place at one time in one road, including removal of detritus and weed, gully cleansing, and graffiti removal. Due to this being a labour-intensive treatment, roads are selected on the severity of issues. This programme is shorter than the Weeding programme, and includes a smaller number of roads.
Ward-based street cleanse: Once a fortnight, the street cleansing teams carry out ward-based street cleansing activities where they remove leaves, litter and detritus. This also includes low-level weeding in the summer months.
Main roads, High Streets and other high-profile areas receive more regular cleansing as the footfall in these areas is higher.
If a street cleansing report is submitted to Hounslow Highways, a Network Steward will attend the site to assess the condition. A reactive team will only attend outside of the street cleansing schedule if the standard of cleansing on the road is not satisfactory and cannot wait for the routine cleanse.
How long after I report weeds will the Council send someone around to assess the situation?
A Network Steward will attend a reported location within 3 business days of receiving the report. If the road is affected by weeds which cannot be removed by the street cleansing teams, then the reactive Weeding teams will be directed to remove weeds from that location.
Is there anywhere I can see a list of roads that are being attended?
The list of roads on the Weeding programme are published on the Hounslow Highways and Council websites.
Can I find out when my street was last attended to?
You can find out when your road was last attended to on the weeding programme, which will be updated on a regular basis. Alternatively, you can log an enquiry on the Hounslow Highways FMS reporting page, and request the information.
What other weed removal methods are being considered?
We are always reviewing alternative weed removal methods, such as greener and more carbon efficient equipment.
However, Hounslow is one of the only boroughs that provide a chemical-free weed removal service. The Weeding programme incorporates the roads that are most affected by weeds, and deploys additional crews to tackle the issue. This does take time, but it means that roads in Hounslow are being attended to more regularly, and by more operatives in the streets.
Details of Hounslow’s expanded weeding workforce
The Council has 7 dedicated teams targeting 835 of Hounslow’s roads.
There are 315 roads listed on the Weeding programme, and these will be treated by the dedicated weeding teams throughout the season (receiving two visits per street). Additionally, the extra teams deployed to support the weeding teams can be dispatched to treat approximately 520 roads reported reactively.
Mechanical sweepers are used to treat the main roads and high-profile locations.
