Public Places
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This year, the main event day for the Worlds coincided with the first day of the football season, so it was ‘a little busy’ around the Glasgow Green leading up to the championships
Queen Victoria enjoys the top spot on the Doulton Fountain, the largest terracotta fountain in the world
competition. Prior to the Commonwealth Games,
Glasgow Green had also hosted the BBC Big Weekend, which attracted 25,000 revellers each day over the May Bank Holiday weekend; another test for the groundstaff to ensure the site retained full grass cover. The team look to apply 60-70 kilograms of
N per year, in controlled release form, to allow a steady, even growth over the growing months and also to aid recovery in areas that require a quick repair following events. It is also important there is not too much growth as it can be difficult to work around stage construction whilst an event is being built or derigged. However, it remains important to strike the correct balance between excessive growth and to withstand long periods of foot traffic. As mentioned previously, compaction is one of the biggest problems associated with large scale events, so regular verti-draining and solid tining is required to keep the well- designed event plots in continued good condition. It is impressive how these plots recover from such high amounts of traffic. The dedicated team that work throughout the city looking after all the fine turf and sports areas can be called upon to add their expertise, when required. Around twenty personnel will work a four on, four off shift pattern whilst continuing to look after the various golf courses, football pitches and bowling greens in the city at the same time. The three supervisors that look after these
areas have the maintenance down to a fine art. This year, the main event day for the Worlds coincided with the first day of the football season, so it was ‘a little busy’ around the Glasgow Green leading up to the World Pipe Band Championships. However, the excellent planning by the supervisors helped everything run smoothly and cope with whatever eventuality came their way. This year LES Operative, Stuart Muir, took
the lead on preparing the Grade 1 Arena to look its best. Stuart’s ‘day job’ is to maintain many of the bowling greens across the city.
92 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016
The winners of this year’s competiton were the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland
The city has invested in new mowing equipment during 2016. LES has a team who look at what machinery is required and keep everyone updated with what is available. They create very detailed specifications and look at every aspect of purchasing to ensure the correct equipment is procured. This has resulted in new mowers from John Deere, Jacobsen and Toro, all of which have been purchased specifically for different areas, and they have already made a huge difference to how each area is managed. Looking ahead to 2017, LESWorks
Controller, Paul Brannan, says that he has been following, with interest, the articles in Pitchcare from Green Flag judge Bernhard Sheridan with regard to reduced mowing. Paul says that, whilst this will not necessarily work on the main event areas, the design style of Glasgow Green allows for ‘Managed for Wildlife’ areas to sit nicely within the area of Glasgow Green and Bernard’s option could work well here. When large scale events come to the park, these areas are protected and unaffected. Glasgow is focusing on its ‘Pollinator Strategy’ and, already, the team have
identified areas within Glasgow Green that will see more reduced mowing frequency to assist with increasing pollinators. The Conservation Team and Countryside Rangers are constantly monitoring these areas, along with the river bank. The annual fireworks in Glasgow display on 5th November - with 50,000 people in attendance - brings the Glasgow Green event season to a close and allows the LES Operations team to start aerating and topdressing the event plots in time for all the events that will come to Glasgow in 2017.
Information provided by Paul Brannan, Works Controller, LES Parks, Glasgow City Council
LES Supervisor, Charlie Keane
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