Councillors offer shear cutting service in snip of time!

WARRINGTON’S new deputy mayor Cllr Geoff Settle and his fellow ward councillor Graham Friend have rolled up their sleeves to provide their own shear cutting service following complaints from residents about over grown hedges.
During their monthly Cinnamon Brow surgery at the Farm Community Centre both councillors were relaxing in the sunshine when three angry women approached complaining about the reduced landscaping service.
Cllr Settle (pictured right) and Cllr Friend listened to their views and promised to address what they could as well as sending them all a copy of the council
statement on grass cutting.
The women went on to complain about the hedges. Cllr Settle, Warrington’s recently appointed deputy mayor, said: “We have had excellent growing weather recently and walking along paths and pavements is proving difficult especially where brambles are shooting out of hedges almost overnight.
“I tackled fallen ones that had blocked a path earlier in the year with help from my neighbour and after listening to the complaints and walking to the closest to see for myself, I decided that a new short sharp approach is required where possible. I’ve termed it ‘a shear and snip approach’.
“I will take a pair of shears to any spots that people complain about and cut away what I can. I used to help previous Labour Poulton North Councillors do similar work. Cllr Diana Bennett and I tackled an overgrown issue at the entrance to Valiant Close two months ago.”
Cllr Settle’s approach is only to tackle areas where branches or brambles are sticking out and proving an obstacle for people passing by.
During the last tweo weeks he has tackled hedges between the Solway bus stop and St Andrews Close (three hours’ work), the path between Perth Close and the Farm (one hour), as well as a few smaller jobs on Cinnamon Lane North and Montrose Close.
meanwhile he has passed on the complaints to to the borough council who have promised to visit with a flail to Cinnamon Brow and the work began this week on Delph Lane.
It will soon progress down Enfield Park Road. Last month he also got the flail down for extensive work between Shetland Close and Dundee. These hedges over many years pushed out and reduced the width of the footpath; this has now been cut back to where it should be.
Both councillors would now asked for anyone who has an issue to get in touch with them. They would rather people contact them than let things go unchecked.
Cllr Settle added: “As people know I run and walk around the ward so I notice a lot but not everything. Last week on my run to Brook Acre Primary School, where I tutor maths once a week, I passed by St Bridget’s Primary School and had to duck because the bushes were so low, a quick email with photo attached and the job has been done.
“Other good news announced this week is that Muir Housing Group has just sent a schedule for cutting hedges on the estates that they manage.
Hedges will be cut this month i.e. Cinnamon Brow, Longbarn and Fearnhead. This will be the second cut of the year that we all fought so hard for them to re-instate.”
Following other complaints about the lack of grass cuting Warrington Council issued a statement saying it had to make some difficult budget decisions.
Over the past three years, they have had to save £50 million through innovation and prioritising essential services as a result of the annual budget cuts to local government.
They warned that as the Government continued to reduce funding for council services with councils in the north of England taking a bigger hit than councils in the south, budget pressures, particularly for discretionary services, such as grass cutting, would get worse.