Should grass cutting still be a priority for authorities?

TODAY I watched the grass being cut outside my house. Quite a demanding task as in recent weather growth has been abundant!

But I have to ask the question: “In these times of local government financial restraints, should this still be a priority?”

We’ve seen for example reviews of care for the elderly, quite severe changes to travel arrangements for older students with Special Educational Needs, a possible closing of CareOnLine, as well as a reorganisation that’s primarily due to costs, of County supported public transport, and of Sure Start and Children’s Centres across Leicestershire

But when the public is consulted, one of our highest priorities as members of the public is ‘grass cutting’. Really?

As a former county councillor, I urged we should ask or even require house owners to cut the grass outside their homes?

When I lived in the USA, it was seen as our public duty. And if a neighbour couldn’t because of illness or disability, we did the neighbourly thing, and cut it for them.

Of course this can’t apply to major roads with no house frontage, or maybe more parklike stretches of grass. And, yes, there will be debatable spaces - but surely looking after our own frontage would save expenditure - money that could be spent where there was real need, not just mere convenience?

We talk loudly and often about ‘community’. Can’t we show how to make it a reality by doing at least this small seasonal thing for ourselves and if needed, our neighbours?

Peter Lewis