Issue - meetings

Petitions and Deputations (10 minutes)

Meeting: 21/06/2017 - Cabinet (Item 5)

Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes)

To receive any petitions or deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

 

·         Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·         Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

Minutes:

 

Councillor Andrew Gravells presented a petition on behalf of the residents of Abbeydale regarding the overgrown grass verges and open spaces in the area.

 

The Cabinet Member for Environment commented that Members would be aware of that the Contractor had been trialling a revised grass cutting regime for the past three months. The trial had been proposed by the Contractor in response to the City Council’s request for contract savings.  The proposal was estimated to save £125,000 in a full year.

 

Unfortunately the Contractor had not been able to maintain the six week schedule which had caused the backlog in grass cutting in some areas.

 

The Cabinet Member for Environment said this was completely unacceptable and the Council had taken immediate steps to bring in additional resources to catch up and reduce the future cycles between cuts to four weeks.

 

Cabinet noted that a press release would be issued, explaining the cause of delay.

 

The Cabinet Member for Environment apologised to Members who had received complaints regarding the grass cutting and asked that assurance be given to residents that the Council were taking action.

 

 

The Leader of the Council commented that the trial had not worked and would not continue in its current format, but the Council were taking steps to put the matter right.