Council plea: '˜Don't cut grass service in Skegness'

Town councillors on Wednesday refused to accept the ‘fait accompli’ and take responsibility for cutting the grass when they met to set the precept for 2017-18.

Lincolnshire County Council axed amenity cutting from next year’s budget as part of its cost-cutting strategy and informed town and parish councils that verges other than for safety reasons alongside roadsides in rural areas would not be cut.

The estimated cost to Skegness Town Council of cutting the town’s grass with the existing contractor would be around £50,000, explained the town clerk.

But councillors felt any discussion went far beyond looking at costs, with large areas on roads used by tourists affected, such as Lincoln Road and Burgh Road.

Mayor Coun Dick Edginton said: “We can’t allow the town to look like a dilapidated jungle.

“Instead of discussing with us what can be done they have presented this to us as a fait accompli.

“How can an authority that spends a fortune on economic development then risk people coming to the town and seeing overgrown grass verges.”

Town clerk Steve Larner said: “When we are spending £2 million on a new community hub we can’t be seen to not cut the grass.

“There are safety implications too. I don’t want to see (which I do now) people with lawm mowers and strimmers cutting the grass without safety equipment.”

Coun Edginton said; “There is something very wrong when an authority cannot deliver important services like this.

“They have to find the money from somewhere and we will be having a conversation with senior elected members to see what can be done.”