New committee to keep eye on grass cutting in Antrim and Newtownabbey

The Parks and Open Space Sub-Group was established in 2015 to “manage roundabout maintenance improvements and impact of Department for Infrastructure (DfI) budget cuts on urban grass cutting”.

Last November, a new approach to grass cutting by DfI was challenged by the council’s Operations Committee which highlighted the need to keep the borough ”neat and tidy”.

The council’s own grass cutting schedule includes parks, cemeteries, play parks, small areas in towns and villages, leisure centres, riverside paths, car parks, bowling greens, 27 grass pitches, roundabouts, as well as community centres, pavilions, Mossley Mill and Antrim Civic Centre.

The council has opened a new two-year Parks Apprenticeship Programme in partnership with CAFRE Greenmount leading to a permanent job with the local authority.

DfI has said that a single “swathe” will be cut along verges on the “strategic” road network twice yearly and sight lines at junctions will be cut at least twice a year.

On rural roads, one cut will be carried out “late in the growing season when flowers have set seed and pollinators are less active”.

However, DfI has acknowledged that additional cuts at specific locations may be required to maintain sight lines for road safety purposes.

Routine cutting is normally carried out up to twice a year in rural areas. In urban areas, grass verges are cut up to five times a year across the full verge.

DfI says “the new measures will enable the Department to deliver on their commitment in support of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan”.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter