We're responsible for grounds maintenance on most land we own. This includes:
- grass cutting
- weed spraying
- hedge maintenance
This work is done by an external contractor.
Our grass and verge cutting responsibilities
We must keep verges safe and obstruction free - this is particularly important at road junctions, where clear visibility for motorists and pedestrians is vital.
We follow Plantlife's guidance. This means any grass verges we're responsible for and protected verges have:
- a one metre visibility cut will begin during late March/early April
- a second one metre visibility cut will begin during June/July
- a full-width cut will begin during September
We also:
- cut public open spaces, churchyards and urban verges six times per year
- carry out additional cuts on the highway as needed for visibility
- pull ragwort from verges where it is reported and deemed in close proximity to grazing land - this will usually take place when the plants are flowering
- spray herbicide along all kerb lined roads in the county twice a year - first in May, second in August/September
We are not responsible for:
- maintaining verges on private roads leading to private properties
- the vast majority of roadside hedges - these are usually responsibility of the landowner
Some parish councils manage their own verge cutting:
- Belmesthorpe
- Braunston
- Caldecott
- Cottesmore - including public open spaces and the churchyard/cemetery
- Edith Weston
- Empingham
- Essendine
- Geeston
- Great Casterton
- Ketton
- Langham
- Ryhall - including public open spaces and the churchyard/cemetery
Ragwort
The DEFRA Code of Practice on how to prevent the spread of ragwort does not seek to eradicate Ragwort as it is an important part of UK biodiversity. Instead, it aims to prevent the spread of ragwort in areas that pose a high risk for grazing livestock. Therefore, our plan for this year continues to be to tackle ragwort on a case by case basis dependent on the location and the risk this poses to grazing land.
We are therefore asking that residents, landowners or occupiers of grazing land, report any concern of ragwort growing on verges to the council via the FixMyStreet website, report under 'Trees or Vegetation: Overgrown or Overhanging'. This can include areas noted last year where we will monitor for this coming season wherever possible.
Livestock owners are responsible for the welfare of their animals and have their own duties in terms of ensuring that their animals are not exposed to ragwort. If we are notified of any high-risk areas, then we can target resources to these verges.
The annual work that we carry out is part of the ongoing control to prevent the spread of ragwort to grazing land. It is not designed to remove all ragwort or to prevent it from coming back the following year.
Sites of special scientific interest (SSSI)
Our sites of special scientific interest are given a full-width cut in August.
The Luffenham Health Golf course SSSI verge is approved by Natural England. The grass is cut once (with the cuttings removed) between mid-July and the end of September. This is so there's an average grass height of less than 15cm by the end of October, over at least 70% of the grass area. There may be an additional cut (with cuttings collected) in September or October.
The same schedule applies to the Tolethorpe road verge SSSI.