Highway grass verge cutting
Elmbridge Borough Council has been working in partnership with Surrey County Council to undertake the grass cutting since 2008.
Areas managed by Surrey County Council receive four urban cuts and two rural cuts per year. It has been Elmbridge’s policy to enhance the number of grass cuts in order to maintain these to the standard that our residents expect. In recent years in order to maintain the frequency of cutting, the level of our subsidy has increased. In 2021/22 this subsidy stood at £80,000.
However, our budgets need to be re-prioritised to other areas of community support such as local business grants, therefore, Elmbridge is no longer able to subsidise the cutting of these highway verges. On 31 December 2021 we handed the verge cutting back to Surrey County Council. This means that from 2022, Surrey County Council will maintain the highway verges in Elmbridge. Elmbridge Borough Council will continue to be responsible for green spaces, parks and the Elmbridge Commons.
Grass cutting in Elmbridge, summer 2022
While we are trying to keep up with our regular grounds maintenance schedule, current staff shortages in the industry is slowing down our progress.
Currently, Elmbridge Borough Council’s grounds maintenance contractor only has half the normal staff available to undertake the usual works across all the green spaces and cemeteries in the borough. As such, we are prioritising the works that are required. This means that follow up work (such as strimming of boundaries etc) which does not affect sight lines or health and safety will be left until later in the season, when we have available staff.
Our grounds maintenance contractor continues to experience difficulties recruiting and has had to employ sub-contractors where possible. However, sub-contractors are also in short supply.
We understand that the current levels of maintenance can be disappointing but we assure you we are doing everything we can to remedy the situation.
In the meantime, if you are interested in a job working on seasonal grounds maintenance work to assist, please contact greenspaces@elmbridge.gov.uk and we will pass your details onto the relevant contractors.
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