By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Comedian Dom Joly has blasted Gloucestershire highways for “flytipping” barriers which have created an “eyesore” in a leafy Cheltenham street that has been there for months.
Highways workers placed barriers around the tree stump in Clarence Square which is due to be removed.
But they cannot guarantee a date for the work until surveys are carried out to make sure no utility cables lie beneath.
Mr Joly said he has posted about the issue several times over the last two months.
And the “eyesore” is basically “official flytipping”, he said.
“I even entered them into the Turner Prize but they were rejected,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service after criticising Gloucestershire County Council over their lack of action on social media.
“Still zero action from Gloucestershire County Council for this eyesore they left two months ago in Clarence Square – official fly tipping basically” he said in a Facebook post.
A Gloucestershire County Council spokesperson said the barriers have been put in place until the tree stump is removed.
However, they cannot give a date for the removal to take place as urgent safety work will take priority.
“These barriers have been placed around the tree stump in Clarence Square as it is due to be removed,” a spokesperson said.
“Surveys are being carried out to check there are no utility cables beneath the stump, to ensure it can be removed safely.
“We cannot guarantee a date for this work as urgent safety work will take priority, if required elsewhere.”
Councillor Colin Hay (LD, All Saints and Oakley) raised concerns over a similar situation with barriers around tree stump elswhere in Cheltenham earlier this year.
He told a County Council meeting on February 19 that the barriers in Tamar Road had been in situ so long they were captured on Google Street View.
Council chiefs promised at the time to look into the issue.