Disabled couple angry over council’s ‘rip-off’ garden upkeep scheme
THEY HAVE HAD TO CARRY OUT WORK THEMSELVES DESPITE PAYING FOR ASSISTANCE
A DERBY couple have called the city council’s garden maintenance scheme a “rip off”, saying they are paying hundreds of pounds for their plants to be left overgrown, forcing them to carry out much of the work themselves.
Cheryl Ward, who used to work in a fish and chip shop, and partner Mark live in Sinfin. They say that over several years they have paid a total of more than £2,000 (£5.70 a week) to Derby City Council for workers to visit their house to maintain their lawn and shrubs.
But they claim gardeners have “wrecked” their garden after only mowing their lawn, leaving untamed weeds in their borders to strangle flowers. This has left Mark, who has a mobility limiting problem affecting his knees after an accident at work, struggling to clear space for roses and carnation bushes to grow.
Cheryl is also registered disabled
I’ve made numerous calls to the council ... we’ve spent over £2,000 for them to wreck my garden.
Cheryl Ward
with health problems, having fractured her spine and had a brain tumour removed. She says the situation is causing her much distress. Cheryl said: “We joined the gardening scheme some eight or nine years ago. Until five years ago we had borders with flowers looking lovely.
Four years ago it started going downhill. I went out to look to see how roses and carnations were doing, but I couldn’t see them. The weeds were taller than my three-year-old granddaughter was. I’m five foot five and they were up to my hips.
“My partner had an accident and he’s struggling. He got down on his hands and knees and dug it out so you could see the hedges. He shouldn’t be doing that.
“I’ve made numerous calls to the council over the years. We’ve spent over £2,000 for them to wreck my garden. Weeds have strangulated the carnation bushes. We pay to have the borders kept, grass cut, bushes kept, and pruning. I get nothing apart from the grass cut.
“It’s not fair. I think it’s a rip off.” A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: “Derby Homes tenants, as part of their tenancy agreement, have a responsibility for the upkeep of their garden.
“Some of these activities can be physically demanding, such as cutting hedges and grass, and the Derby Homes garden maintenance scheme is designed to help tenants with basic tasks such as grass and hedge cutting, shrub maintenance and weed control.
“Between April and October, visits are carried out fortnightly, although this may be longer depending on the weather and growing conditions.”