Dorset Council workers facing extra shifts to catch-up on grass cutting

Council staff in Dorset are said to be working longer days and on Saturdays to try to catch up with a backlog of uncut grass.

We're told some of the problems have been caused by machines breaking down with a long wait to get parts from Europe.

Weymouth councillor Peter Barrow has told fellow councillors that his inbox is full of complaints about the unkempt grass, which he says adds to the fire risk, increasing hay fever and is making the area look uncared for.

The Southill councillor says he fails to understand how the authority's got itself in the position it has:

“What I do not understand is why Dorset Council has got into a situation where they are at the mercy of mowers breaking down and slow parts delivery.

“Dorset Council must have planned and reactive maintenance regimes in place for the mowers, what is apparent is that they have failed this year. Why were parts not readily available and why were there no spare mowers to use whilst the defective ones were being repaired?

“In addition, why did Dorset Council not let the residents know what was going on before it became a real issue. This lack of early information led to residents wondering if the grass was ever going to be cut and much speculation about the cause of the delays."

Senior councillor in charge of highways, Cllr Ray Bryan, says the Weymouth grass cutting team in particular has suffered more than usual breakdowns this year with machine parts from Europe now harder to get than they were:

“This has exposed a lack of resilience and despite best efforts the verge cutting has fallen behind schedule. To recover from this situation Dorset Council has made a number of changes, some of which will have a positive effect now, others will take a little longer."

The steps include staff working longer days and on Saturdays to catch up, hiring in a ‘cut and collect mower’ and ordering new mowers from a different manufacturer which has a better support network and spare part availability in the UK to reduce down time.

Dorset Council claims that not cutting verges until later in the summer saves money but it also encourages more wildlife, with a marked increase in the number of butterflies and wildflowers.

The council policy allows for road safety with verges trimmed where line of sight is important for driver, cyclists and pedestrians.

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