Wiltshire Council release grass cutting update

The council’s contractor Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) has pledged to keep on top of grass cutting in West Wiltshire.

BBLP has responded to residents’ concerns and agreed a plan of action with Wiltshire Council to ensure the standard of service the authority demands is delivered.

People will be receiving a leaflet from Balfour Beatty apologising for the shortfall in service expected and calling on residents to contact them if they are still not satisfied.

The contractors said that despite targeting additional resources, grass cutting fell behind schedule but they were working hard to put things right. Balfour Beatty has apologised to Wiltshire Council, brought in 11 extra teams, and had others working seven days a week and during bank holidays to prioritise the worst affected areas.

Any lingering problems would be addressed in the next round of grass cutting, the contractor said.

Philip Whitehead, Wiltshire Council portfolio holder for highways said, “We have been working hard with Balfour Beatty to address the concerns of residents in West Wiltshire. Any fall in the standard of service provided is not acceptable so we are pleased the contractor has agreed to a plan of action and acted swiftly to put the situation right.”

Balfour Beatty spokesman, Tom Harvey said, “Despite allocating substantial additional resources to grass cutting, we fell behind schedule in a small number of areas, most notably in West Wiltshire. We take any failure of delivery very seriously and will continue to review the service very closely with Wiltshire Council, deploying additional resources where needed.”