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The residents were planning to host a street party on land near their homes in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. Sharon Withers claims she contacted Staffordshire County Council a month before the party and then twice more in June asking for it to be cut, but it was not done.
She says the grass used to be cut regularly by East Staffordshire Borough Council, but claims that, since Staffordshire County Council took over duties last year, it has “not been cut as regularly” – and was “far too long for the children to play at the Jubilee party earlier this month”.
In the end, they paid a gardener £50 to cut half the grass so they could use it for the festivities.
Sharon told Staffordshire Live: “I first contacted Staffordshire County Council on May 20 and then again on June 2 regarding the grass cutting, or lack of it, on Westfield Road, Horninglow, as we were planning to have our Jubilee party on the Saturday, June 4.
“We received no response so we paid for someone to cut half of the grass so children would have a safe space to play during the celebrations.
“Finally we received a response on June 8, to which I replied on the same day, but as they had used the incorrect issue number it was regarding a pothole in Stone.
“To date, I still haven’t had a reply and you cannot speak to someone from highways as it’s now all done online.”
“Grassed areas around Westfield Road have been cut regularly but the grassed area where I live has not.
“When East Staffordshire Borough Council had the cutting contract we never had an issue, but since Staffordshire County Council took it over in November 2021 we keep being missed out.”
David Williams, cabinet member for highways and transport at Staffordshire County Council said: “Our grass cutting team have recently undertaken the first urban grass cutting which has been cut slightly higher than usual.
“The reason behind this is that the verges have a winter’s worth of debris, mole hills and other obstacles some of which are only visible for the team to clear them once they have passed the areas.
“The team drop the height after the first cut to solve this issue. This will be passed to the correct team and where appropriate added to the grass-cutting schedule.
“In urban areas, we currently undertake six cuts throughout the season. This is to maintain road safety and we’re working consistently across the county to achieve this.”
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