*Shannon Town.
LESS HEADACHES would arise if a provisional grass cutting contract for the year was published for Shannon and South Clare.
An appeal for elected members of the Shannon Municipal District to be furnished with a provisional grass cutting schedule for the entire year was made by Cllr Rachel Hartigan (FF).
Such a plan would give “an indication of what cuts are planned for, in order to be able to best advise our constituents,” she highlighted.
Acting senior executive engineer in the Shannon MD, John Strand outlined that the annual grass cutting maintenance contract “would normally start in early March and run till late October, these dates will depend on the weather conditions. The number of cuts between March and October are equally spaced out, normally less than two weeks and are again dependent on weather conditions”.
Speaking at the November meeting of the Shannon MD, Cllr Hartigan remarked, “it would be a lot less of a headache if we didn’t have to get onto ye asking for the road sweeper and if we had a provisional schedule at least four weeks in advance and just had to refresh it”. She repeated, “Could we be provided with that provisional schedule, it would cut down on a lot of the administrative side of sending in phone calls and emails”.
Looking at the science behind the lowering of the blade, Cllr Michael Begley (IND) observed, “There is one issue I have with grass cutting by the local authority, it isn’t done and can’t be done as regularly as you cut your own lawn, the end result is a month or six week’s growth is left and cut there, the last blade of the area is worse than the first, we are nearly better off if it wasn’t cut at all rather than withered grass left there for a month”.
Cathaoirleach of the Shannon MD, Cllr John Crowe (FG) suggested a residents committee “take charge and take pride in their area, it would make sure all areas would be cut, nobody will look after an area better than the people living there once they are supported”.
Public perceptions on grass cutting need to be revised, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) maintained. “They are looking at lawns and it will never look like your lawn because you won’t be cutting it every week or mulching it every week”. He added,
“Biodiveristy is a part because we are letting some sections grow into a meadow, how do we get it across to the general public, we are letting it into a meadow and they want a lawn is the reaction I’m getting back”.
Engagement of the public is dropping, Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) felt. “People say check the Council website but how many of them are checking the website and no disrespect to the media but how many people are looking for an advert about it in the newspapers”. He instead believed the information should be given to councillors to share via their own social media followings.
Senior executive officer in the Shannon MD, Suzy Clifford told the meeting they were reviewing the grass cutting contract and that they had engaged with numerous groups. “Grass cutting is very subjective, some people want it high and others want it low”.
