RIVER DART ROTARY WEED MONKEYS Sprucing up Dartmouth one path at a time
Y
ou may have spotted their distinctive yellow T Shirts as they tend the pavements of
the town? Who are they and what are they doing? The River Dart Rotary Weed
Monkeys is a group of volunteers, formed to tackle overgrown weeds in Dartmouth. Having completed nearly ninety weeding sessions, they are now a prized asset of the town.‘Doesn’t council tax pay for weeding?’, we hear you ask. “Sadly not”, says Alan Depledge, first President of River Dart Rotary and Co- Founder. “Not anymore”. Devon County Council, who previously sprayed roads and paths routinely, ceased doing so c. 2018 and an- nounced officially in 2023 that they ‘do not treat weeds for aesthetic reasons, such as being unsightly’. So, unless a road or path is breaking up, or if weeds become a hazard or encroach onto private land, they will not be touched. South Hams District Council has responsibility for street cleaning, which primarily involves litter collection, sweeping and no routine weeding. Dartmouth Town Council maintains its’ own assets only. Alan continues “Signifi- cant reductions in local government
funding has resulted in councils be- ing forced to focus on their statutory responsibilities, which unfortunately do not include weeding! The unac- ceptability of glyphosate weedkiller has compounded the issue, with many councils, including Devon CC, now having banned its use”. Faced with a deteriorating
situation and determined to do something, Alan met like-minded Jonathan Needs in June 2022 and The Weed Monkeys were formed as a part of the Rotary club, with Jonathan as ‘Head Monkey’. “I started Weed Monkeys because I was frustrated at how scruffy our beautiful town was looking and realised something had to be done” says Alan. Starting immediately with a handful of intrepid volunteers us- ing their own equipment, the group grew steadily in number. In 2024 they were successful in re-
ceiving funding from both DTC and SHDC to buy new hand tools. These factors were key to carrying out a record 44 sessions in 2025, totalling 534 ‘Monkey Hours’… and filling 425 green waste bags! “We’ve become quite organised”, says Jonathan. “We have a planned programme, which allows everyone to join in when
they can. We also have a leadership team, the Weeder Leaders(!) who run the sessions” The 2026 programme runs from
the start of March until the end of November. There are two, two-hour sessions per week, rotating between mornings (9-11) and afternoons (2-4) on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Full details are on the River Dart Rotary website. Volun- teers are not expected to attend a minimum number of sessions, just to attend when they can. Neither do they need to join Rotary. “As well as being great exercise, there is a genu- ine sense of shared purpose when we are weeding” says Jonathan. “Plus, we get lots of thanks for our efforts. Come and join us!” “Or if you can’t join the sessions but like what we do, please con- sider making a donation to help us replace tools, bags etc. Every penny is spent keeping our beautiful town looking as it should” concludes Alan.
https://riverdartrotary.co.uk/dart- mouth-weed-monkeys email:
hello@riverdartrotary.co.uk
Alan Depledge
Jonathan Needs
RDR Summer Jamboree 2025
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