Grounds maintenance
Contents
Your service
Your housing services team work to keep the grounds of communal areas of our estates in good condition. To monitor the performance of your grounds maintenance service, housing officers carry out regular estate inspections. We also hold regular meetings with our grounds maintenance contractor to monitor their performance.
Do you want to work with us to help improve your service? We are happy to hear from tenants who are looking to become more involved. Let us know by contacting us at resident.involvement@scambs.gov.uk
Your responsibility
Everyone plays a part in making your neighbourhood a nice place to live. You can look out for your neighbours by:
- Making sure that grassed areas are kept free of litter and dog fouls
- Parking considerately (including visitors to your home) by avoiding parking on grassed areas or in a manner that gets in the way or blocks grounds maintenance teams. Not only is this against the tenancy agreement, it also damages your neighbourhood and uses up resources that could be used for other grounds maintenance work.
- Letting us know if grass has not been cut when it should be
You also hold responsibility for your own garden including cutting the grass and maintenance of any trees or bushes. Please keep it tidy, well maintained, and free from rubbish.
You are responsible for your own sheds and patios as well as any fences (unless they form an external boundary onto a road or footpath).
If you are considering planting a tree, consider whether you will be able to look after it, as it will be your responsibility to maintain. Do let us know, however, if a tree in your garden is causing damage or could be dangerous.
You can contact us via email or at 01954 713 000.
What we do
Throughout the year we carry out two kinds of works: cyclical and reactive. Cyclical maintenance is planned and performed regularly, whilst reactive maintenance is carried out if needed and when it is reported.
Cyclical works
At every estate, the following works are carried out:
Grass Cuts
Grassed areas are cut 12 times each year (every 3 to 4 weeks during growing season). Grassed areas will be:
- cleared of litter before mowing
- neatly cut across the entire grassed area
- strimmed in areas that can't be reached by mowers
Rough Cuts
These are cut to a longer length, 4 times each year. Rough areas with wildflowers are maintained 1 to 2 times a year, to encourage flowering.
Weed Spraying
This is performed around street furniture once a year. Spraying areas are no more than 15cm in circumference to keep brown patches of grass as minimal as possible. Weed spraying is carried out in ways to not take away from the appearance of the rest of the grassed areas.
Hedge Trimming
Hedges are trimmed once each year, during autumn and winter. Their sides are cut back to keep them from growing over footpaths, the top of the hedge is levelled off (to a maximum height of 2 metres for boundary hedges, and 1 metre everywhere else), and is cut to a neat and tidy appearance.
Welfare cuts
5 cuts are carried out each year, trimmed to the grassed area besides the estate
Reactive works
Trees
If a tree needs work or attention on a communal area, once it has been reported its details will be passed on to your local housing services officer. A representative will then visit to assess the tree and determine whether:
- Immediate work is needed
- Work can be done if the budget allows
- It is low priority and should be revisited at the end of the year
Trees that are in your garden are your responsibility to manage and care for. We will only work on these if the tree is "unmanageable", or poses a health and safety risk.
Leaf Clearance
Leaves are only cleared if they pose a health and safety risk.
Overgrown hedges
If a hedge is posing a risk to health and safety (such as blocking a path), it will be cut back outside of the usual schedule.
Additional works
At November and December we review the remaining budget for grounds maintenance and consider whether extra works can be carried out. These extra works can include:
- Ditch clearance
- Cleaning of hard-standing areas
- Weed spraying
- Litter clearance
- Shrub cutting