Grass cutting issues 'down to staff shortages'

A grass cutting regime criticised by residents has been hit by staffing shortages, a council leader has said.

In May, Derby City Council said it had approved funding to strengthen "grass cutting, weed control and street cleaning services".

But just weeks on, residents contacted BBC Radio Derby to highlight the scruffy nature of the city's soft landscaping.

Councillor Nadine Peatfield told a radio hotseat that while keeping the grass cut was "costly", the issue was due to 20 unfilled vacancies, which is approximately 20% of staff across the council's Grounds Maintenance teams.

The authority introduced new specialist cleaning and weed-removal teams this summer, alongside upgraded grounds maintenance equipment and new vehicles including two tractors and five ride-on mowers earlier this year.

But while the plan was to intentionally leave some areas to grow longer, including beneath trees and on selected verges to support pollinators, the council has struggled to maintain the parks, open spaces, highway verges and housing land it is responsible for.

The situation prompted a flurry of questions to the council leader on Friday.

On BBC Radio Derby's Facebook page, Sarah Louise asked: "Are there any measures put in place to improve the shoddy grass cutting techniques across Derby?

"To stop leaving momentum sections around trees and street furniture uncut. To employ people with strimmers to follow the mowers to neaten up around road signs, bollards and so forth."

Kath Hardy said: "Derby looks so run down."

Kate Brookes added: "Along with the grass cutting comments what about roundabouts, the one at the bottom of Hampshire Road is far to [sic] overgrown, when turning right the brambles stick out so much now they swipe your car, very dangerous for visibility."

Peatfield said it had been "a challenge" to recruit seasonal workers into posts this year.

She said: "It is costly - we have thousands and thousands of acres of grass across the city.

"This year the problem isn't finances, we've put £3.3 million in this year alone to Streetpride and frontline services such as grounds maintenance, so it's not the funding that's the issue, it's actually a recruitment problem.

"Currently in the grounds maintenance team we have 20 vacancies and seven of these are supervisors.

"It's a bit of a struggle, the first time we went out to recruitment at the beginning of the year there was very little take-up and councils are finding this all over the country.

"Last year the grass was cut with no bother, nobody commented, nobody said that it looked bad, it just went ahead as normal because we had a full team."

Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, cabinet member for Streetpride, Parks and Leisure, said the council had instructed contractors to help plug the gaps while candidates were being sought.

He said: "Our grass-cutting programme is on schedule to deliver six full cuts across Derby's highway verges this season and our teams are working through our programme as planned, prioritising areas where visibility or access is affected.

"These actions are working, and their impact is already being seen across our green spaces. We are actively recruiting and we encourage anyone passionate about Derby's green spaces to apply."

Onuoha said the council has taken steps to tackle the vacant posts, including offering staff overtime and using agency staff or outside contractors over the summer.

He added: "If you love working outdoors, if you don't mind that it's an incredibly hard job, we're open to have a chat with you."

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