CUTS to Land Services should be reconsidered after aggressive growths started spreading around the Wee County.

The message comes from Clackmannanshire Tenants & Residents Federation after the issue of unsightly weeds was highlighted in the Advertiser a couple of weeks ago.

June Anderson, chair of the non-political organisation, wrote a letter to all elected members, praising the efforts of workers and saying more money should be put towards maintaining the land, especially in the face of the changing climate.

She then told the Advertiser “the appeal to all elected members was merely a campaign to voice and support the people of Clackmannanshire who are unhappy with the state of grass and weeds in our beautiful county”.

The chair added she and the team are hoping to support council workers “who have been most severely affected by severe cuts and the few gardeners left are undoubtedly doing their best in what can be difficult circumstances and receiving constant complaints from the public, who are not aware of these cuts”.

The issue originally arose when Conservative Councillor Darren Lee blasted the local authority and showed some affected areas off in Tullibody.

It was argued that while politicians are hoping to bring more investment to the county, badly maintained walkways would give a bad first impression.

Furthermore, savings made now could be eroded when repair costs rise.

The council explained weed killer is only applied once a year now and more rain than usual contributed to the problem.

Adding to that, June wrote in her letter: “Reducing the grass cutting schedule also comes at a cost, unsightly piles of grass cuttings – it takes longer for a machine to cut through long grass than short which will take up more of the workers time, plus the added mess on the paths, they have to clean up.

“We must remember these guys also look after the burial grounds, sports pitches as well as the play equipment, tree cutting, shrub maintenance and much more.”

SNP council leader Cllr Les Sharp, who had to set a budget in chaotic circumstances following a Labour resignation, said he was focusing on saving jobs and putting plans together without compulsory redundancies.

He added: “My task was to formulate a budget that didn't empty the council coffers and spend money on unnecessary consultants, this we did, we were assured that the savings were achievable without massive impacts on service delivery.”

Cllr Sharp highlighted the decision to apply weed killer only once a year also featured in the Labour budget, which never went ahead, and said the group will review the impact the decisions had.

Labour leader Cllr Dave Clark said: “My appeal to the public is that they do not blame staff for this.

“They are doing their best in difficult times.

“On the one hand the Tories want to cut back local government, but the only conclusion we can really arrive at is that the SNP administration in Holyrood do not like local democracy.”

SNP MSP Keith Brown also weighed-in after constituents approached him and asked the council to review its spending.

He said: “It appears that the root cause of the matter is that Clackmannanshire Council has reduced the number of times maintenance is carried out and I support the views of my constituents that more should be done to ensure that our streets and roads are kept weed free.”

The Clackmannanshire and Dunblane representative also said the cuts need to be viewed in the context of Westminster austerity, “ but I feel this is not an area to cut back on at a time when we are aiming to attract visitors and encourage civic pride”.