West Swindon Parish Council

The Parish Council's team works outdoors all year round in every type of weather conditions. Every day work includes litter picking, fly tipping collections, graffiti removal and emptying over 200 public bins and is the same every week throughout the year.

Grounds work is very seasonal and will be managed depending on ground conditions. In the Spring and Summer months, the outdoor work is focused on cutting grass in public open space. This includes roadside verges, and large park grassland such as Shaw Forest, Toothill Park and Shaw Ridge Linear Park. The Parish Council applies different levels of grass cutting to different areas. You can find out more about it here: Sustainability Plan

The team will also manage floral planting and issues relating to brambles and overgrown shrubbery and hedges.

Over the Autumn and Winter months, the team stops grass cutting and moves on to giving shrubs and hedges on public land an annual cut. This work takes approximately six months from start to finish.

The team will also respond to complaints where there are public access issues. Some hedges are cut by a mechanical side arm and others by hand tools. Where possible we aim to keep shrubbery at a height that is safely manageable for either hand or mechanical cutting. On average, shrubs and hedges are maintained at around 4 feet however in some instances, the type and condition of the planting means that hedges/shrubs need to be reduced to 2-4 feet.

The team focus on one area at a time and generally the routes are as follows:

October to November Sparcells, Nine Elms, Grange Park, Peatmoor and Middleleaze

December to January Ramleaze, Shaw, Eastleaze and Westlea

February to March Toothill and Freshbrook

We continue to do what we can to promote a clean, green and well cared for environment. As the Parish Council continues with a single annual cut, the result of doing it infrequently means the change in the environment can be visually dramatic. However, many neighbourhoods will have seen that the hard pruning taken place over the last few years, has resulted in stronger and healthier vigorous regrowth. Please be aware that the aim is to bring the green environment across West back into a more manageable state and to contribute to well maintained local spaces.

Please be aware that Swindon Borough Council is responsible for trees and any high height tree maintenance.

The team is very careful to ensure that it does not disrupt nesting birds. Checks are undertaken before any work is started.

West Swindon Parish Council Office, Unit 25, Westmead Industrial Estate, Swindon, SN5 7YT, email: enquiries@westswindon-pc.gov.uk