City Council Grass Cutters experiencing ‘Growing pains’
City Council grass cutting contractors have been struggling to keep grassed verges properly maintained during the adverse weather conditions experienced over the last month or so. A combination of extremely wet weather and warm temperatures has resulted in grass growing far more quickly than it would normally. These factors then cause mowers to block when cutting wet grass which is longer than usual.
Staff who are responsible for managing the grass cutting contract admit that the current situation is the worst it’s been for at least a decade with a ‘perfect storm’ of conditions to hamper maintenance programmes.
Describing the problems Cllr Roger Huxstep, Portfolio Holder for Environment said,
The grass cutting schedule varies from year to year because of the changing weather conditions, and we have to be as flexible as possible. However, this year it is a real problem matching the available resources with the timing of the cuts required and the wet conditions that prevail; causing real practical difficulties with the equipment. This is a problem being experienced across the country and we can only apologise to residents if they notice that areas do not look as neat and tidy as they usually do. We are working hard to get the service back to normal and hopefully the weather will improve soon to help that process.”