Extra £60,000 cost of tackling weeds in Basildon

AN EXTRA £60,000 is being spent by a council contractor in a bid to cut down the problem of overgrown weeds and grass in Basildon.

The council’s contractor, the Landscape Group, is splashing the cash on extra staff and machinery to try to catch up after record levels of rain meant it was impossible to cut grass verges throughout the borough.

A string of complaints have been made by residents about the state of grassland around the borough which is still waiting to be cut back following major downpours in April and May.

Betty Parsons, 75, of Tinkler Side, Basildon, says the whole borough has been left a mess. She said: “Our area of the town has been really neglected. The grass verges have just been mown after months of just being left.

“It makes the town look unsightly and just blaming the rain is not good enough. The whole area has looked terrible for months.”

Kevin Blake, councillor with responsibility for leisure and arts, said: “The last three months have been the wettest on record and this has been an issue for most if not every local authority across the country.

“Much like people up and down the country have been battling with their gardens, we have had the same issues, but with over one million square feet of grass to look after.

“The Landscape Group has made great efforts to keep up with the increased rate of growth, but as people will understand cutting longer grass results in slower progress in getting back to the normal service delivery”.

Nick Temple-Heald, chief executive of The Landscape Group, added: “We have faced unprecedented weather this summer so far, probably a sequence of events that happens once every 50 years.

“I would like to thank residents for their continued patience and assure them that we working hard to return the borough to a neat and tidy condition as soon as possible.

“That is why we have developed a catch up plan and are investing more than £60,000 over and above our normal agreement with the council, in additional staff and machinery, to get back on track.”

Comments (6)

8:59am Wed 4 Jul 12

fletch12107 says...

How much profit is this contractor making to be able to spend an extra £60k "over and above their normal agreement with the council"?
How much profit is this contractor making to be able to spend an extra £60k "over and above their normal agreement with the council"? fletch12107

9:37am Wed 4 Jul 12

The Cater Wood Creeper says...

the sixty grand is probably about the same amount they've had their contract payment cut by Tubby Blake and his mates at the Council who have 'conveniently' lessened the amount of grass to be cut by selling off all that nice green space/parkland to housing developers.....
the sixty grand is probably about the same amount they've had their contract payment cut by Tubby Blake and his mates at the Council who have 'conveniently' lessened the amount of grass to be cut by selling off all that nice green space/parkland to housing developers..... The Cater Wood Creeper

9:54am Wed 4 Jul 12

tepluap says...

Get the long term layabouts to do some clearing. Taxpayers have been keeping them for long enough !
Get the long term layabouts to do some clearing. Taxpayers have been keeping them for long enough ! tepluap

9:59am Wed 4 Jul 12

The Cater Wood Creeper says...

tepluap wrote:
Get the long term layabouts to do some clearing. Taxpayers have been keeping them for long enough !
tell them they can smoke all the grass they cut.....
[quote][p][bold]tepluap[/bold] wrote: Get the long term layabouts to do some clearing. Taxpayers have been keeping them for long enough ![/p][/quote]tell them they can smoke all the grass they cut..... The Cater Wood Creeper

10:02am Wed 4 Jul 12

tepluap says...

The Cater wood Creeper.. That is funny! made me Laugh.. Thankyou
The Cater wood Creeper.. That is funny! made me Laugh.. Thankyou tepluap

11:46am Wed 4 Jul 12

Nebs says...

They could have used the money they would have saved last year, when we had a remarkably dry and sunny spring. Or did they pay that back to the council?
They could have used the money they would have saved last year, when we had a remarkably dry and sunny spring. Or did they pay that back to the council? Nebs

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