Agenda item

The Forum considered an update by the Director of Environment and Transport regarding grass cutting.  This update was introduced by Mr Kirk with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mr Kirk took Members through the update and highlighted the key areas of the report.  He advised that the number of customer contacts with regard to grass cutting had reduced in 2016 which followed a number of changes to the service which moved in-house at the end of 2014. The frequency of the cutting reduced from 6 cuts to 5 in 2015 following a public consultation on the MTFS budget where the public fed back that they felt this was not a high priority and could be reduced, the level of customer contacts regarding the grass cutting that same year increased by 31% from those recorded in 2014.  A review was held as a result of this and a decision made by Cabinet in October 2015 to increase urban cuts to 6 a year.  Mr Kirk explained that the performance monitoring information showed that 2016 had the lowest number of customer contacts since 2013 when 7 cuts were carried out per year, substantially lower than 2014 and 2015. 

Mr Kirk confirmed that a small dedicated team had been set up to deal with visibility splays in response to customer reported safety concerns. 

Mr Kirk explained that the Council have a new responsive approach to grass cutting which will be more reactive to the growth of the grass and there may be more cuts earlier to deal with seasonal growing peaks.  He went on to say that a number of improvements were being made i.e. technicians will use a live dashboard which will ensure work is programmed more efficiently using ‘real time’ information. 

Mr Kirk advised Members that officers will continue to refine and embed the improvements once the grass cutting season starts. 

Cllr C Holyoak DC asked how much had been saved as the whole purpose of the changes was to save money. Mr Kirk explained that the number of cuts had reduced from 7 to 6 and then from 6 to 5 and then increased to 6 following feedback from customers so money will have been saved due to the reduction from 7 to 6 cuts. 

Cllr M Rickman DC asked if this level was going to continue into 2017.   Mr Kirk stated that due to feedback from Councillors and the number of customer contacts, the frequency will remain at 6 along with a more responsive approach.  

Cllr N Hall DC raised concerns about the Shearsby crossroads and the issues in that area due to accidents. He stated his concerns were mainly about the strimming around road signs and asked why weed killer was not used which he felt would be more efficient than strimming/cutting.   He also had concerns about the A5199 and kerbside cutting/strimming.   Mr Kirk explained that in the report it stated that the quality of the visibility splays in 2016 were not as good as the urban cuts and efforts were being made to improve this situation by carrying out visibility splay cuts earlier and in a more controlled way.  Mr Kirk urged Members to report any safety issues or grass cutting issues to Customer Services where they will be logged and prioritised. 

Cllr R Page CC agreed with Cllr Hall on the issues he had raised about cutting around signs and she raised concerns about signs and bollards being knocked over during the cutting process and asked if the money we are saving is being spent on rectifying the damage.    Cllr Page and Cllr Rickman asked about Parish Councils who carry out the grass cutting on the County Council’s behalf and whether, as the refunds were based on 2015, will they get the same amount of reimbursement as before.  Mr Kirk advised that he did not have this information to hand but would take this back for officers to investigate and contact Cllr Page directly.

RECOMMENDATIONS

i)          That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted; and

ii)         That officers to look into the amount of reimbursement for Parish Councils doing the grass cutting will remain the same and contact Cllr Page.