Hopes of new deal on grass cutting in Skegness
There are hopes Skegness Town Council can cut a new deal on grass cutting after residents, some in their 80's, were so angry at the untidy state of the resort they started trimming the verges themselves.
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00:00 Now we're in precinct Crescent in Skegness where the residents have been so upset that
00:11 Skegness Town Council has stopped cutting the grass here. They've been doing it themselves.
00:17 Steve, tell me what's been going on.
00:20 Yeah, we think it's really unacceptable the council's decision to stop cutting the grass
00:25 and it's just a plain wrong decision. I've lived on the street for over 30 years with
00:29 other residents have as well and always this piece of grass has been cut by the council
00:34 and they've suddenly just stopped it. We've now got to sort of have a look after it ourselves
00:40 or let it grow and let it look like a midden as you turn the corner and really, really
00:44 look bad for the street and run the place down. Or we have to look after it ourselves.
00:49 We've got two residents on the street who were in their 80s who were out here with the
00:54 mowers every weekend and trying to mow the grass and keep it down and it's just not
00:59 acceptable. We pay our rates and we should better get the grass cut.
01:04 Now you went along to a council meeting this week, didn't you, to air your disapproval
01:10 of what's going on. What would you like to see them do?
01:14 Yeah, like I said, just reverse the decision. We think it really is as simple as that. The
01:18 decision is bad and it needs reversing. We understand that the amount of money, it's
01:25 not a phenomenal amount of money and it must be found from somewhere. We understand the
01:30 council have got a lot of reserves which would more than take care of it. But it's not just
01:35 on this street, it's through the whole town that the problem is. Every street in the town
01:39 is having the same problem. I'd just like them to reverse the decision, to put the grass
01:46 cutting back to where it was before for the whole town to make it look good.
01:50 Would you be prepared to pay more in your rates for that to happen?
01:54 Yeah, I think we absolutely would. We've been given an example, I don't know what it is,
01:58 it's something like that 50p a year, something like that. Of course, that would never be
02:03 a problem to anybody. But even so, there still should be a bit of fund, the money, within
02:09 the finances they've got. But yeah, if it was 50p or so a year, that wouldn't be a problem.
02:17 Councillor Steve O'Day, you've come along to see the residents here today. What have
02:23 they been telling you?
02:24 Oh, they've been telling me that they're very, very disappointed with the grasses not being
02:31 cut and they're having to do it themselves. As you can see, they're not in the flush of
02:37 youth and it just goes to show what the residents actually feel about the fact that the grasses
02:45 are not being cut. And having to come out there and do it themselves is completely and
02:51 utterly wrong. And there is no real need for it to happen.
02:57 Now we're coming up to a bank holiday as well, there's going to be a lot of people coming
03:02 to the town. Are you worried about what visitors are going to be thinking?
03:06 Well, I'm not particularly worried, but it is a concern that visitors are going to come
03:11 here and they're going to see the town looking uncared for and unkempt and it is not a good
03:19 look. And it's not just the visitors, it's the residents as well. They don't want to
03:23 be walking around a town that is looking uncared for and unloved.
03:29 Now when we come to the point where the town council is setting their next budget, are
03:37 you going to be pressing that the grass cutting is reinstated?
03:42 Well, yes, but I mean, the problem that we've got, of course, is that the budget is now
03:47 set for 2024 to 2025. So if we have to wait until there's another budget set, that's going
03:56 to be next year at this time. And so something has to be done before then. We cannot leave
04:03 this to, we can't leave this situation in place.
04:07 Have you got any idea what can be done?
04:10 Well, we're still working on it in the background and we're hoping that we're going to be able
04:15 to find a resolution in the very near future. But it is going to be difficult to do that.
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