COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, December 10, 2012

QUESTION NO. 16

QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

That consideration be given for the 2013 grass cutting season to the automatic collection of grass where cutting takes place close to footpaths in our parks and roadways/footpaths in Estates so as tp reduce the need for sweeping, blocking of gullies and hazards for pedestrians and cyclists. 

REPLY:

It is acknowledged that due to the difficult weather conditions experienced this year, that issues arose in relation to grass clippings on roads and paths around the county. This was due to the strong growth of grass combined with very high levels of rainfall during the summer months which disrupted the grass cutting operation. As a result, more grass clippings than normal arose and because of the wet weather, they tended to clump together and persist for several days. Efforts were made to alter the patterns of grass cutting in the vicinity of roads and pathways to reduce the amount of clippings falling on these surfaces but it is simply not possible to cut grass in the vicinity of roads and footpaths without some of the clippings falling outside of the grass areas.

The collection of grass clippings is neither practical nor sustainable in terms of the scale of the annual grass cutting operation. In any given week, up to 600 individual locations are cut, the majority of which involve working close to a road/footpath at some point. Aside from the disruption to the mowing operation which would be caused by frequent stops to empty grass collection units, additional resources would be required to transport and dispose of what would amount to many tonnes of grass over the course of the season. The most sustainable and cost effective method of dealing with grass clippings is what is acually done which is to operate the nitrogen cycle and return the clippings to the soil at the point where they arise.