PUBLIC PLACES


As a contractor, you’re getting pushed to finish


”


by a certain time and not a certain quality. As long as you can do a job ‘good enough’ and the client says yeah, that will do, then it ticks the box. Now we say, let’s stay here and get this right


provide a better surface, but they weren’t being allowed to. Partly because they were being told exactly what you do here and exactly what you do there, and it was frustrating for them because they know we used to be doing this at this time of year or we need to finish the job off by doing this. But it was, no let's move on to the next bit. As a supervisor who started on local authority as a contractor and now going back, I hope we can get partway back to how we used to work. Doing the work when it needs it, not because you’re trying to tick a box on your contractor’s list, you’re doing it because it needs doing and you’re doing it at the right time. I believe it will happen, but it will take some time.” “As a contractor, you're getting pushed to finish by a certain time and not a certain quality. As long as you can do a job ‘good enough’ and the client says yeah, that will do, then it ticks the box. Now we say, let’s stay here and get this right, we’re being encouraged to operate that way by GEL Management as well, so even our upper management is starting to take that approach. Go out, do the job once and do it properly.”


Brad continues: “I think it's a great thing. As we’re on our new learning curve, there’s always going to be things that come up that we weren’t ready for, but we knew that was going to be the case and knew it was going to be about a year to get everything the way we wanted it on both sides. As John said, the guys don’t feel pressured to get a job done. My philosophy and John's is the same, and it has always been, let's do the job right and move onto the next one, not just knock it out


90 PC April/May 2021 John Carpenter (left) and Brad Decker


to get to the next one because you’re under pressure.” “We’d rather deliver the best we can for the public, and that was the reason for changing it into a local authority trading company in the first place - to try and deliver a service for the public, not just as a private contractor. The goal is to make things better as we go along.”


No one at GEL could have foreseen the long-lasting impact of COVID and its effect on amateur sport and the pressure it would put on parks. For many in the borough, going to a park is one of a very limited number of options for enjoying time outside during lockdowns, and this was reflected in the number of people using them, with the total


almost quadruple the normal amount. Waste collection became the central issue during this time, but being ready for sport to return was another consideration always waiting in the background. Having to prepare for a last-minute cricket season in 2020 highlighted how important having their own machinery was, as well as bringing the issue of a lack of skilled workers to the surface. A large part of the improvements on the sports side will come through new machinery and the gradual addition of skilled staff. John estimates that only thirty percent of the seventy-four strong grounds maintenance team are classed as skilled workers. This is compared to seventy percent being skilled during his early years when three hundred


Walpole Park where over 9,000 trees were planted


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