Aye and I were horrified to see the grass around where we live being cut the other day.
The council (Crawley) looked like they just didn't care- see the photos.
So it got me thinking- what are your local council like at looking after the public spaces?
In Dorking, where we lived before, Burleys are the contractor and they do a fairly good job- probably because they have to tender for it every 5-6 years or so.
But here in Crawley, it seems like the council have their own team and their machinery just leaves whole clumps behind.
When we recently went to Scotland for a holiday we noticed a lot of weed killing is done around trees and lamp posts- we don't get that down here.
What is your area like?
Susan
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As you say, it depends if its a contractor who have to keep up standards or if the council do it themselves, in Falmouth (cornwall council) it used to be a contractor as did a decent job, now a lot of it is done directly by the council and although some of it looks ok, mainly in the busy bits, the rest really depends if its been wet or dry to be honest in a dry spell it can look pretty good but if its wet there seems to be a lot more missed and wheel marks from tractors etc, I think part of the battle is if its dry the mulched grass mulches better than the wet clumping, also it may be worth considering that a job may be started with the strimmers on monday, on tuesday the council come with a victa pedestrian and wednesday the kubota comes and does the rest, which gives various grades of growth and look untidy, why they do this im unsure. The weedkilling is to eliminate the strimming bit and cut down on labour.... One thing is for sure the council were all out making sure it was tidy when the torch landed at culdrose!
You have to bear in mind this is rough amenity grass and to cut it to the standard we do lawns would eat a lot of our council tax. I, for one, am perfectly happy with the council cutting grass like this as it makes the gardens I maintain really stand out.
A lot of areas I work around have cut back their grass cutting to what seems to be monthly. That does make a right mess, and leave a lot of cuttings piled up!
I worry more about the strimmers, they really damage trees when used badly.
yeah couldnt expect them to collect the grass for the whole county! I guess its all about budget
Or god help us - The council giving brush cutters to work placement kids who chip chunks out of trees ....... Good old work schemes!
Paul McNulty said:
Our Parish council have had to save money. Certain areas are only cut on a monthly basis including the verges outside homes which is fair enough because most people own a mower so can do their own.
The only reason they can afford the cutting at all is that cricketers/footballers use our playing field and they have to pay towards it. However, they tend to be unhappy because the grass is not cut short enough for them at times!
I am guessing then that they have just changed the way they do things as the strimming guys turned up today. So although it looked a mess for a few days they are now starting to neaten it up.
One of the biggest arguments between neighbours can be the outside verges. Some people mow the one that is directly outside their house. Other people say that is why they pay their council tax for the council to do those bits.
Where I live the council are still providing the service. The council have to prioritise services with the massive cuts in budget that they have had, so grass cutting does not really come high on this list which I can understand. When it comes to caring for old people, nurseries, bin services, etc.. .. etc.. grass cutting is always going to suffer. Up here they are doing a lot of grassing over flower beds in parks and roundabouts to make the job of looking after the public green spaces less labour intensive. It makes sense in this economic climate. Its unlikely to change for many many years regardless of the merits of neat/tidy interesting public areas. But as mentioned the olympic torch is coming past The Angel at the end of the week, I jogged past it last night and it all looks great !
There are new contractors in my area, a friend of mine did agency work for them when they first got the contract then they laid off all the agency staff. They have a huge area to cover and have a handful of full timers doing it all. as a result there are grass areas in my village which are now thigh deep, it's bloody terrible. They'll lose the contract.
previously I have seen young lads strimming with absolutely no PPE! no visors, ear defenders and wearing trainers!!! I've seen trees with severe strimmer damage to the trunks, grass cut to similar stanards as susans photo illustrates,
Yes I agree it's not practical or economical to collect grass clippings and I wouldn't be happy paying extra council tax to do so, but cut the grass properly for christs sake! It doesn't cost any more to make sure the grass is cut to an equal height.
Yes get it all nice & flat, smarten the place up
or you could just let it grow...
that would save councils a whole load of money
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