Service
The Operations section of Environmental Care maintains most of the green spaces in the borough including sport pitches, open spaces, play areas, road side verges and the Worting Road Cemetery. In addition to this the team also plant and maintain floral displays, shrubs and hedges.
In 2010 Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council were High Silver Gilt winners for ‘South and South East in Bloom’ and received Green Flags for The War Memorial Park and Eastrop Park.
Grass Cutting
The council is responsible for mowing in excess of 6 million m² which is equivalent of cutting over 1000 football pitches. Most of the general open space is cut approx 13 times a year from mid March to the end of October. This is dependent on the weather and ground conditions, ie: if there is a hot and dry summer the grass will grow more slowly and fewer cuts will be required. ‘Rough’ grass areas such as the verges on ring roads are cut 6 times a year.
We do not cut grass that is:
- Privately owned
- On properties/estates owned by bodies other than the Council
- Outside of the Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council boundary
We are of course restricted by the elements and some cutting may not run to schedule, in times of heavy rainfall. This is because taking mowers onto very wet land can create mess and damage the sward of the grass. Continued bad weather can delay cutting and extended dry weather may make cutting unnecessary.
Due to the large area of grass being maintained it is sometimes necessary for mowing to continue during wet weather. However for health and safety reasons grass cutting to banks may not be carried out if the ground is wet. Areas that have been cut during wet weather may appear to be churned up after works have been completed. This is usually superficial and the grass will normally recover within 48 hours.
Most grass in residential areas and adjacent to the highway is cut by a ride-on mower. However, there are some areas of grass which are cut by pedestrian hand mower and these will sometimes be cut separately.
All Environmental Care Operations staff are required to operate all machinery in a safe and appropriate manner and have been appropriately trained to LANTRA standard.
