Here I am, moaning again – I think it’s an age thing.

Or maybe I just take a pride in my home county and I hate seeing it being visually degraded the way it is.

Everywhere I look there are weeds growing on roadsides, unkempt roundabouts, and hedges so overgrown they force pedestrians into the road (I’ve mentioned that before … to no effect!).

I get it that civic budgets are tight but community pride is hard won – and easily lost.

In some parts of the county there’s a sense that the weeds are taking over. As a journalist I am by nature a cynic. So when I here about initiatives like ‘No Mow May’ I see that as a cost cutting measure dressed up as a conservation project.

The conservation lobby is certainly a powerful one and many of their arguments are valid, but not all of them.

When I worked for the BBC I reported on a town that had banned every chemical weed killer in favour of tackling weeds with steam. They were rather excited about it. But I went back about six months later I saw little evidence it had worked. I have no idea if they are still doing it.

My point is that there needs to be a sensible balance and in this case I feel the pendulum has swung a little too far in the green direction.

Tidy towns are not only good for pride they are good for the economy; they attract visitors. Britain in Bloom is an example of that. Visitors do come to see towns bedecked with glorious colours. But when the blooms are battling the weeds for your attention, the impression isn’t quite the same.

Then there is the public safety aspect. I have mentioned before that overgrown hedges are a clear and obvious danger. But these days I am struggling to pull out of some junctions because 3ft tall kerbside weeds block your view. And forget about reading road signs!

Social media is awash with tales of frustration. I know I am not alone. Recent postings have talked about scruffy bus shelters and rose beds full of litter, being “strangled by weeds”.

And I read this somewhere: “Nearly everywhere looks like we can no longer afford to maintain it, like some aristo living in a crumbling country house hoping the National Trust will take it off his hands.”

Oh dear – if you’re reading this National Trust, can you help?