Post by Focus on Jun 12, 2013 12:55:13 GMT
Town hall chiefs spent £150,000 on accurately measuring the height of grass, shrubs and hedges in all of their green spaces, it was revealed today.
Basildon Council in Essex said it needs the nine-month exercise ahead of a re-tendering next year - with English Landscapes, which has cut the grass since 2010, coming to the end of its contract.
Land surveying firm Atlantic Geomatics, based in Penrith, Cumbria, has now been hired to measure the borough’s greenery so the council can specify the height at which it must be mowed.
Landscaping : Basildon Council in Essex said it needs the nine-month exercise ahead of a re-tendering next year - with English Landscapes, which has cut the grass since 2010, coming to the end of its contract
Nigel Smith, leader of Basildon’s opposition Labour group, which opposed the council privatising the service in 2010, said the expenditure ‘does sound like a bit of a shambles’.
He added: ‘We opposed the privatisation of the contract in the first place, and I think we have been proved right. It would have been so much better if it was council staff carrying out these jobs.
‘One hundred and fifty thousand pounds is a load of money to be paying out on top of a contract to another company afterwards and you need to wonder about the competency of the council.’
The council said it must make sure that cutting contracts offered to companies are accurate. This means that £150,000 must be spent before a new grass cutting company can even be employed.
The re-measuring exercise will take nine months to complete, and also includes an assessment of what obstacles - such as bollards and pylons - could hinder the new grass cutting efforts.
The last re-measuring took place in 2008 at a third of the cost - £45,000 - but Tory councillor Kevin Blake said that this was a poor job that led to issues with the English Landscapes contract.
Eager gardener : The exercise is reminiscent of Mr Fussy from the Mr Men children's book series, who always insisted on ensuring every blade of his grass was straight and that his flowers all grew in a straight line
Kevin Blake, councillor for leisure and arts, said: ‘It’s a lot of money, I make no bones about that, but we’re talking about a huge project here.
'It will go into the fine details rather than a finger in the air job. I don’t want to spend £50,000 and then run into problems later down the line. What you pay for is what you get.’
The council added that Atlantic Geomatics has the specialist equipment required to carry out the project, and it is a sophisticated process with the data being recorded and stored electronically.
The council served 61 rectification notices and 40 default notices to English Landscapes in a six-month period shortly after the grass-cutting was privatised.
The exercise is reminiscent of Mr Fussy from the Mr Men children's book series, who always insisted on ensuring every blade of his grass was straight and that his flowers all grew in a straight line.
TaxPayers' Alliance campaign manager Eleanor McGrath said: ‘Local residents will be absolutely aghast at the amount of money Basildon Council is paying these expensive contractors for this ludicrous project.
‘Taxpayers want to know that their council is spending their hard-earned cash on frontline and essential services, not on bizarre exercises like this.
Basildon Council needs to rethink its spending priorities at once, put local residents first and deliver far better value for money for local residents.’
If this wasn't so 'bizarre' it would be fcking laughable!! - Fx
