Jersey ROYALS


By LAURENCE GALE MSc G


overnment directives and the inconsistent appliance of compulsory


competitive tendering have resulted in the erosion of traditional grounds maintenance skills in the public service sector. Parks, open space areas and school playing fields have suffered. In many cases council restructures have seen the demise of the parks manager, with responsibility for these important areas passed over to a different department with little affinity to parks and gardens. As a result, budgets get squeezed leading to the provision of substandard pitches and recreation areas. From personal experience I know that many school playing fields and public open spaces have deteriorated badly in recent years, largely due to the lack of investment and the change in working practices. Little more is being done than mowing the grass and marking out pitches, with the odd bit of seed thrown on for good measure during the so- called renovations. It is a worry. I recently


heard of a council which gave up the management of its bowling greens as a cost cutting exercise, passing them over to local clubs to maintain. No budget has been handed over. What state will they be in in a few years time? And, just as important, think about the skills the council's fine turf teams have


lost. The knock on effect is


already being seen; there are less people participating in outdoor sport, the fitness levels of children today is ever decreasing which, over time, will lead to a long term health problem for the nation. We should be encouraging


children and adults to use public open spaces by producing quality surfaces and providing the necessary resources to ensure these facilities are maintained to a standard to encourage their ongoing participation. However, not all is doom and gloom. There are a number of local authorities still striving to maintain high standards and training their groundstaff to produce quality playing surfaces for their end users. One such authority is the States of Jersey, Transport and Technical Services Department. Importantly, they have managed to keep all their work in house. They have a traditional management structure, whereby a parks manager oversees all the operations on his/her site and each has his/her own in situ staff.


On a recent visit I met up with Steve Landick, the States of Jersey Playing Fields Manager. He, like myself, had as a grounding the old parks apprenticeship, which was the standard training regime in the mid 1970’s. Most people entering the profession


underwent a five-year apprenticeship that taught the practical and theoretical side of the industry.


It was hugely successful in that there was the benefit of learning from experienced work colleagues in a hands on environment and, during the day release at college, there was the opportunity to learn the theory behind the practice.


Steve joined Jersey Parks and Gardens in 1974 straight from school working on various playing fields. He undertook a one-year course at Cannington College before returning as Head Groundsman of Les Quennevais Playing Fields. In 1994 he was promoted to the position of Playing Fields Manager, and now has a staff of 24.


He is responsible for managing five main sites, with a total of ten groundstaff based on them. There are also five tractor drivers and two mobile groundsmen who carry out work on twenty school playing fields and eleven club pitches across the island. The section also helps out at the Jersey Rugby Club, the racecourse and the Horse Show jumping arena. The work carried out here is mainly renovation, spraying and vertidraining. The tractor team also


carries out a number of other tasks. This includes mixing and screening of top-dressing in the winter for use in the spring, landscaping work, skip / green waste removal


from the parks section, delivery of equipment, road verge cutting and watering of trees and shrubs. A special task carried out by the team is the twice a year Branchage cutting of vegetation alongside roads and paths. The remainder of the team form a floating mobile unit equipped with Hiabs for carrying out project work and helping out on the playing fields as and when required.


Visites des Branchage


Under Jersey law all hedgerows, banks and shrubs overhanging public roads and paths have to be cut back and cuttings removed. Branches must not be lower than twelve feet over roads or eight feet over footpaths. This work is usually done in the first weeks of July and September. If the vegetation is not cut back then the landowner is liable to a fine and, if the work is still not done, he/she can be referred to the Royal Court with the possibility of a jail sentence.


Monitoring is undertaken by members of the local Parish administration, there are 12 in all. On the day of the ‘Visites des Branchage’ they drive around in a minibus measuring the height of tree branches overhanging the highway and inspecting the hedgerows to make sure they have been cut. The local ‘Ventenier’ (honorary policeman) will then issue a penalty notice and fine to landowners who fail to comply with the law.


Elizabeth Castle, Jersey


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