ROYAL Wootton Bassett Town Council has taken over responsibility for cutting grass in several areas after realising it can do a better job than the unitary authority.

Complaints last year about overgrown and unkempt green spaces in the town prompted members to agree to Wiltshire Council’s offer to hand over responsibility for several plots of land including a spot at Blain Place.

Chairman of the amenities committee Linda Frost said: “We received a number of complaints from people about the state of the grass not being cut regularly.

“In some cases it was proving to be a bit of a danger to pedestrians and traffic because it was cutting down visibility.”

So when Wiltshire Council invited the town to adopt the space and offered £40,000 towards the future cost of cutting, the town decided to accept.

Their grounds-keeping team leader John McIndoe reported that 36 cuts a year were recommended to bring the standard into line with town council maintenance standards – three times the number of cuts carried out by contractors for the county.

“We felt that we could manage it better,” said Linda.

She told the Advertiser there had been feedback from residents during the year saying several parcels of land the council had taken over were looking much better cared for.

“If you don’t look after your town yourselves how can you expect other people to take care of things?” she said.

“Wiltshire Council felt that they couldn’t meet the standard that we wanted.”

She said town councillors appreciated the unitary authority was having to make large cuts in its finances and the decision would put more pressure on the town council’s management of its resources.

But it had a good team and it was clear from people’s reactions that the appearance of the town was important to its residents, which was one of the reasons the council looked after its flower beds.

“People want our town to look good. We can only go on what they have said to us. They have complimented us on the general upkeep of the open spaces in our town,” said Mrs Frost.

Reduced funding from central government has triggered major cuts in Wiltshire Council’s budget from subsidised transport to youth services. As a result it has been handing over some services including the provision of public toilets and grass cutting to parish and town councils.

The standard and frequency of grass cutting on verges and open spaces across the county has come in for heavy criticism this year.

And in Swindon residents from Covingham to Freshbrook complained that the borough council’s cutting programme had failed to keep up with the rate of grass growth on verges, roundabouts and open spaces.