Oakalls Village R
Blame it on the weather!
esidents complaining about overgrown areas across The Oakalls have been told the lack
of grass cuts can be blamed on staff sickness . . . and the weather. The Village contacted Bromsgrove
District Council to find out why the grass had been allowed to grow to an almost unmanageable state and asked what the official cutting pro- gramme was in this area. It turns out grass cutting is handled
by “Place Teams” across the district, with Team Four, employing ten staff, covering the area that includes The Oakalls. As well as being responsible for grass-cutting and hedge-trim- ming, these teams also carry out all the litter-picking, litter and dog bin emptying, bulky household collec- tions, and flytipping clearance across the district. Grass-cutting on The Oakalls is not
a statutory duty of the council – it is only legally bound to perform this service to maintain visibility on public highways, for safety reasons. The cut- ting of grass on the estate is a discre- tionary task which the council choos- es to undertake, and continues to do despite the Conservative Government axing the £3 million Revenue Support
Sarah Rees reports from the Oakalls and Parklands.
Grant to Bromsgrove for the current year, leaving the council seriously short of cash. While there is no set guide as to
how often the grass on the estate is cut, the council works towards be- tween five and seven cuts a year. The grassy areas on The Oakalls
were cut at the beginning of May, which was followed by a period of warm, wet weather that caused all vegetation to grow far more quickly than is usual at this time of year. By the start of June a combination
of perfect growing conditions and Place Team staff shortages, because more than half their trained mower staff were off sick, had led to a grassy problem across the district. Matt Austin, Place Team Leader at
Bromsgrove’s environmental services department, told The Village he had tried to hire private contractors to help increase staffing. But, at the time of going to press those third-party
contractors he had contacted had no available capacity because they were already stretched handling their own customers. Mr Austin said: “We are not where
we would like to be with grass cutting on The Oakalls. “Due to pressure from some resi-
dents and a recognised need to catch up with our grass-cutting programme we started to cut the grass on The Oakalls in week commencing June 5, but ideally we would not have done so while the ground was so wet from recent heavy rainfall. “This did cause clippings to clump, which does not look good.” He continued: “I am aware the
standard of grass maintenance on the estate is not as high as we would like it to be at the moment and we under-
LEARNING ABOUT VICTORIAN LIFE CHILDREN AT Finstall First School
stepped back in time when “Annie the Housemaid” visited as part of a Victorian activity day. Pupils made comparisons between
Back row: Louise Davis, ‘Annie the Housemaid’ and Helen Desmond. Front row: Poppy, Daniel, Isla, Callum, Mae, Mia, Daniel and Ben.
38 The Village July 2017
the lives of children today and those living over 150 years ago. They also learned the differences between rich and poor children in Victorian Britain. Faye Little, dressed as Annie the Housemaid, talked about the types of job that a scullery maid and boot boy would carry out in a large Victorian household. Pupils were able to handle a range of artefacts, including washing clothes with a
Grass cuttings piled up
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