Residents to cut their own lawns after council ‘ruin’ grass (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Residents to cut their own lawns after council ‘ruin’ grass
7:30pm Thursday 6th September 2012 in News By David Wiles
From left, Vieve Forward, Bob White and Peter Northcott
FRUSTRATED council tenants have been mowing the communal lawns for their homes after a dispute about the quality of the job done by the council.
Residents in six houses converted into flats, in Pinehurst Road, say the lawns are ruined once a month in summer by a workman on a ride-on lawnmower. They say some areas are scoured down to the mud because the ground is not perfectly flat, while clumps are not cut and the edges are not strimmed.
The residents also complain about piles of grass left on the paths and pavements, while rubbish dropped on the front garden in mown in, resulting in a lawn covered in bits of chopped up plastic or cans.
Now some of the residents have chipped in to buy a £65 communal mower from B&Q and have informed the council they will do it themselves, so they no longer require any more visits from contractor Swindon Commercial Services.
The residents decided enough was enough when they told a workman to go away and not to mow the back garden after they say he churned up the front.
Vieve Forward, who has lived there for five years, said: “They ruined it. Every time they mowed it they absolutely ruined it.
“They churned it up. Bits of it were scraped down to the mud. They left huge piles of grass everywhere and they missed bits. They didn’t strim any of the edges. We just want it to look really nice.”
The mower is being kept temporarily in a cupboard in the flat of Pete Northcott, 69, who has volunteered to cut the lawns, but the residents hope the council will provide them with a shed.
Pete, a retired factory worker, said he had mowed the back lawn occasionally since he moved in about six years ago and the comparison with the front lawn was stark, but he believed he could do both lawns with the new mower.
“I’ve just finished the back and it looks 50 times better than what it does when the grass cutters were doing it,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, you wouldn’t believe how nice it looks.
“We’re going to do the front. I don’t want them to come and do the front anymore. We can do a better job and we take pride in doing our job and we can make it look respectable.”
A Swindon Council spokesman said he was sorry the residents were disappointed, however the ability to cut the grass to a reasonable standard had been badly affected by the persistent rain since the end of March.
He said the council would be happy for tenants to take over responsibility for cutting grass and would be prepared to provide a shed together with its a base to store the equipment.
However, he warned that the council would not have staffing available for servicing, maintenance, equipment instruction or health and safety of the people using the equipment. The annual ongoing costs were likely to be more expensive that the cost of providing the current service
Comments(25)
eucalyptus
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10:14pm Thu 6 Sep 12
Born n Bred Swindoner
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10:35pm Thu 6 Sep 12
greenpacer
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11:58pm Thu 6 Sep 12
GalaxyMan
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6:01am Fri 7 Sep 12
LordAshOfTheBrake
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8:03am Fri 7 Sep 12
The Artist formally known as Grumpy Old Man
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9:32am Fri 7 Sep 12
I also struggle to understand how the annual costs will be higher - I bought a £50 petrol mower about 15 years ago, and so far the maintenance costs have been precisely...... nothing!
Davey Gravey
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9:52am Fri 7 Sep 12
The Patrician
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10:10am Fri 7 Sep 12
swindondad
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10:14am Fri 7 Sep 12
The infill green space in this town are a joke, big signs up daying no ball games so the kids have to go further to play in saftey. even when the grass is cut te contractors only have time to do half a job so the edges are left to go wild.
I wish these spaces could be put to better use and I will speak to my neigbours about getting together to take on the work.
RichardR1
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10:26am Fri 7 Sep 12
Still at this shows not all those in Council Houses are lazy good for nothings, as so often depicted on here.
Davey Gravey
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11:42am Fri 7 Sep 12
Still About
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1:01pm Fri 7 Sep 12
RichardR1 wrote:Why does The Adver still allow Trollfm to make such crass statements on here
If they allowed ball games there would be no grass left at all.
Still at this shows not all those in Council Houses are lazy good for nothings, as so often depicted on here.
PaulD
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1:55pm Fri 7 Sep 12
I've even seen these guys mowing grass which has only just been mowed the previous day
Synergie
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2:01pm Fri 7 Sep 12
house on the hill
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2:02pm Fri 7 Sep 12
7:37am Fri 7 Sep 12
" How many tenants does it take to mow a lawn?”
Well at a guess, going by the picture... It takes one old woman closely followed by Ozzy Osbourne (the pince of darkness) and a fat camp man doing an impression of a teapot.""
And of course you are no doubt paying for them through your taxes!!! Very funny though.
In response to RichardR1, There are 3 main types of council tenant, the ones who need and deserve our help, the scroungers who most certainly dont and those who can well afford to live in the private sector and should be made to do so, who understandably stay in thier subsidised rental homes (£75 a week for a 3 bed, must be xmas come early) and clog up the waiting list for those in real need. Social housing should be allocated on need and when you no longer qualify you should make your own way in life like the rest of us have to. (grossly unfair and unsustainable in the current climate or any climate for that matter)
Also if the tenants hadnt been short sighted and selfish and voted to stay with the council they would have lost £70million of the debt they have been forced to take on and pay the £5million a year just in interest before they make capital payments, they would have these services. Sorry but you voted so dont complain when services are cut, you were warned it would happen.
tfidean
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3:43pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Naughty Nick
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7:36pm Fri 7 Sep 12
TinkeyWinkey
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7:43pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Still About
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9:19pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Synergie wrote:Is that true?
Look out Portsmouth, Feal-Martinez is heading your way! lol
I've been up north for a month.
What great news have I missed?
1 2 Could B
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7:02pm Sun 9 Sep 12
16000 views? Very impressive
RichardR1
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10:37am Mon 10 Sep 12
Indeed if you look at the website they are busy right until they leave.
Rather different from the trolls on this site. But then again these were real people saying it at this function.
Pompey-Bound
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10:50pm Mon 10 Sep 12
RichardR1 wrote:Oh robbo what an idiot you are. You choose to hear what you want to hear, you can't take criticism which is why you have to leave.
How odd I was at a South Marston function Sunday where people were saying what a shame it was. The high quality of their food and functions it seems has spread far and wide.
Indeed if you look at the website they are busy right until they leave.
Rather different from the trolls on this site. But then again these were real people saying it at this function.
RichardR1
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9:42am Tue 11 Sep 12
Let us hope you are sued for libel.
Pompey-Bound
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1:59am Thu 13 Sep 12
RichardR1 wrote:Why do you care? Unless of course you are a liar just like Martinez.
Pompey-Bound you clearly fail to comprehend even the most simple of articles which clearly states the reasons they are leaving, not the lies you perpetuate.
Let us hope you are sued for libel.
meyouandsue says...
9:55pm Thu 6 Sep 12