Residents 'shock' as council ends grass cutting in parts of Gloucester

Longlevens residents were shocked to discover the council had put a stop to grass cutting in Mainard Square.

People living in part of Gloucester said they were "really shocked" after the city council decided to stop cutting the grass outside their homes.

The authority had maintained several sites, including Mainard Square, in the city for decades.

But it has now stopped ground maintenance because the space belongs to other landowners.

Gloucester City Council has apologised, and said it only realised the situation after a review into contracts.

The firm Ubico, which provides environmental services, has been instructed to suspend all grass cutting and ground maintenance on the sites while the authority considers its legal position, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But residents have complained about the lack of notice from the city council about their decision.

Jim Davies has lived at Mainard Square since 1987 and said the council had always cut the grass: "They would cut it quite a few times throughout the year. But this last month we noticed they hadn't cut it.

"It coincided with the increase in the council tax. We do a lot of work here weeding on the tarmac outside our properties and clear out the gutters of leaves."

He said residents had no notice of the change and have since been informed that the land belongs to somebody in Staverton.

"There was no notification at all. We noticed it was getting a bit longer than usual. They could have told us or given us the courtesy of a letter or a note through the door."

'Really shocked'

John Barber, another resident, said he has been living there since 2000 and the council cut the grass without fail every year.

"I was really shocked when I found out they were no longer doing it.

"If they had some sort of consultation and said, look, there's some dispute over the land and we are going to look into it and find out who owns it… but no, to just stop with no notice was a bit strange."

A spokesperson for Gloucester City Council apologised for the inconvenience caused to residents, but explained it had recently carried out an extensive exercise to identify all land in its ownership and in the ownership of the county council, for contractual purposes.

"It has come to light that we have historically maintained land which is not in our ownership but is in the ownership of private landowners, Mainard Square is one of these areas.

"We are investigating the legal position in light of this new information... While investigations are underway, our contractor, Ubico, have been instructed to only maintain council-owned land.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to residents."