Residents can check grass cutting online
RESIDENTS in Loughborough wanting to find out if grass in their community is due to be cut can now do so, thanks to an innovative new mapping facility.
Leicestershire County Council has developed a new system giving residents access to up-to-date information on its grass cutting operations.
Residents are now able to enter street names or postcodes in the online map and find out when verges are scheduled to be cut. The new tool can be found at www.leicestershire.gov.uk/popular-now/grass-cutting
Ann Carruthers, the county council’s assistant director for highways and transportation, said: “We’re pleased to launch this new map.
“This improvement to the service will make it a lot easier for residents to find out when highway verges are to be cut. We hope people will find it useful and take the time to check it out and see what cuts are happening in their area.”
The equivalent of 28 football pitches are cut each day in towns and villages by seven two-person gangs using a ride-on mower with flail and a strimmer, while rural routes between towns and villages are being cut in single one-metre swathes.
The grass verges and banks are cut for safety reasons to ensure that visibility is not restricted for motorists and cyclists at junctions, and to make sure the width of pavements is not reduced.
Although the majority of highway verges are the responsibility of the council, some are privately owned, and some are managed by contractors on the council’s behalf.
The council aims to cut the grass within five working days of the scheduled date. This could change depending on the weather.
Last year the county council launched a consultation to seek feedback on how it looks after the area’s roads, pavements and verges in the future.
It spends around £26m each year on looking after the roads, pavements and verges, but by 2020 it expects the budget to be around £16.5m.