Grass cutting priorites outlined for Calderdale with what areas will be trimmed

Coun Robert Thorner (Con, Ryburn) raised the issue with Cabinet member for Public Services and Communities, Coun Jenny Lynn (Lab, Park) at a reconvened meeting of the full Calderdale Council.

Last year a number of councillors complained about grass being allowed to grow too long, claiming the borough looked very untidy and raising safety concerns ranging from visibility for drivers to dog mess being allowed to accumulate.

The ruling Labour group said some areas were left to help wildlife and pollination which they felt they had no need to make apology for as some things were a question of opinion.

There were also issues caused by a pause in cutting work for health and safety reasons following an accident.

Coun Thornber, speaking in the questions-to-Cabinet part of the meeting, said: “I know we’re technically still in winter and summer seems a long way off, but can you confirm that all our grass cutting teams, the council’s highways department, are ready for the grass cutting season so we aren’t ending up with the same situation with dangerous junctions we had all over the borough last year.

“I think it’s one thing we can plan for – I know it’s some time off but we need to ensure we don’t have a repeater.”

Coun Lynn said the green spaces and street scene teams were ready for the coming seasons.

“Yes, we certainly are gearing up for grass cutting where appropriate and particularly the important point is to ensure that all our junctions and key roads, the visibility is there.

“I’m not going to re-open the issue about pollinating insects but I hope that people will bear with us that there are some areas of grass which will not be cut until after pollination.

“There were particular issues that we faced last year that were to do with health and safety matters and we have gone beyond those, that’s completely sorted, I hope,” she said.

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