COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, March 13, 2017

QUESTION NO.7

QUESTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

To ask the Chief Executive if sufficient resources, cover and management processes are in place to ensure the effective delivery of a three-weekly grass cutting schedule in residential areas in late spring/early summer noting the serious difficulties encountered in both 2014 and 2016?

REPLY:

It is proposed that the annual grass cutting programme will commence across the County in the coming two to three weeks.  This is a number of weeks earlier than would normally be expected and is as a result of the mild winter. The service will be provided on the same basis as in previous years, that is open spaces and roadside margins will be cut fortnightly while playing pitches will be cut weekly. 

A number of issues are being examined at present in an effort to improve the delivery of this service in 2017. The record of grass cutting events in 2016 is currently being examined to identify where problems arose, as is the record of complaints received in 2016 regarding poor grass cutting standards.  The information obtained from this exercise will identify problems from the 2016 season which need to be addressed in 2017, if not already resolved. 

It is proposed that the weed control which is required in margins around trees, sign poles, utility boxes, barriers and also in boundary areas will commence earlier than in previous years and that this will improve the appearance of those areas from an early date in 2017. 

It is also proposed that a system will be implemented in 2017 whereby all available grass cutting resources around the County can be pooled in such a manner that there is a consistently high standard of grass cutting achieved across all parts of the County.  This will represent a move away from the existing system whereby the service is provided from operational depots which are responsible for grass cutting in specific geographical areas which are linked to them.  This has in the past resulted in a variation in adherence to the grass cutting schedule from one area to another and a variation in the standard achieved across the County.