Graveyard grass debacle warning

Fears of repeat of cemeteries problem

A former council officer has warned the Royal Borough it may be heading towards a repeat of last year’s significant overgrowth in its cemeteries.

Last year, several residents expressed disgust over the very long grass in the borough’s public spaces.

Steve Anderson once worked for the Royal Borough as its outdoor facilities manager.

He has flagged up the possibility of the maintenance situation getting out of control again this year.

He said: “At Braywick, the grass is already a foot high in places.

“The cutting is supposed to be weekly and they are four to six weeks behind.”

He also raised concerns about the state of Windsor Cemetery (also known as Spital Cemetery) back in January – and earlier this week other visitors lamented the length of the grass via Facebook.

The borough’s cemeteries are trimmed and tidied by its contractors, Tivoli.

Cllr David Coppinger, lead member for environmental services, parks & countryside and Maidenhead, said that the grass-cutting situation is ‘a major item we’ve got to improve on’.

He said officers are ‘working closely’ with Tivoli to meet the needs of the contract.

Last year, Cllr Coppinger made an apology in a council meeting to residents about the state of the cemeteries and their upkeep.

“I turned Serco around and I will turn this around too – but it’s taking longer than I would like,” he said.

Cllr Coppinger also gave assurances that he would not let the cemeteries get into the same state as they were last year.

“Last year, we recognise that there were issues with the service provided by Tivoli and that it fell below the standard that we would expect,” he added.