The delayed rollout of Bridgend Council’s new in-house grass-cutting service was on the agenda at this month’s full council meeting.
While “No Mow May” will have given the Council some wriggle room for a delay, it quickly became clear there were bigger issues behind the scenes. This led to the intervention and statement by the Cabinet.
Anecdotally, the backlog has been at least partially dealt with (particularly along some main roads) – but not everywhere.
If you’ve looked at local Facebook groups over the last few months, you would’ve seen for yourselves that the grasscutting backlog has caused frustration amongst residents to a level that may have taken BCBC by surprise.
It’s not the most pressing issue in the grand scheme of things. Though in my experience it’s often these kinds of “outside my front door” issues – which people can see, hear or smell – which people will get most annoyed about if they’re not dealt with properly.
A motion – originally due to be discussed in June – was submitted by Cllr. Martin Williams (Ind, Coity Higher).
The motion recognised the challenges in recruiting for the new in-house service.
The motion also called for the Council to work more closely with town & community councils on grass-cutting, up to and including paying town & community councils to carry out grass-cutting themselves as an interim measure.
In response, Council Leader, Cllr. John Spanswick (Lab, Brackla West Central), promised to take the motion away and properly consider it. He added that he believed there were many different areas where BCBC could work more closely with town & community councils in the future.
To help, BCBC is currently recruiting a dedicated Town & Community Council liaison officer.
The motion was unanimously agreed.
