The Welwyn Hatfield councillor responsible for overseeing the council's grass cutting contract has expressed her "disappointment" at the state of some grass cutting this year.
Cllr Sandreni Bonfante (Liberal Democrat, Welham Green and Hatfield South), executive member for environment, told a council meeting last week that the issues were "predominantly" caused by the weather, pointing to higher than expected rainfall and higher temperatures than expected.
She said that she "will continue to work with the grass cutters to make sure we get the quality and consistency of grass cutting expected by the public".
Cllr Sandreni Bonfante (left) was responding to a question from Cllr Tony Kingsbury. (Image: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council)
Concerns were raised by members of the public earlier this summer, while Cllr Tony Kingsbury (Conservative, Welwyn West), described the grass cutting this year as "probably the worst" people had seen.
Cllr Bonfante said that CLL, the company responsible for cutting grass in Welwyn Hatfield, brought in additional measures "at their own expense" - including more machinery, staff, and longer working hours - after they had spoken to her and to council officers.
Longer grass and "wet ground conditions" had made cutting more difficult than normal, requiring a slower speed and "causing machinery breakdowns", said Cllr Bonfante.
"I am pleased to say that the situation has recovered, and the fourth scheduled cut commenced over two weeks ago and is on schedule.
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"Nevertheless, residents may still be aggravated upon encountering areas in the borough of overgrown grass.
"Unfortunately, these are areas often not covered by this contract or, indeed, this council.
"It should also be [made] clear to the public that the quality and consistency of this grass cutting has been entirely in line with the contract signed by the previous Conservative administration.
"However, I will be working with CLL to ensure that, where possible, we adapt the contract [to be] focused more on the priorities of the [current Labour-Liberal Democrat] joint administration, such as quality, as well as delivery of the number of scheduled cuts.
"We will also look at other ways we can work with CLL to ensure that, despite a change of weather patterns, we can avoid the issues of this summer."
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