Tewkesbury residents' fire fears after green not cut all year
The council said it had arranged for a different contractor to cut the grass in the TBC area, along with some parish councils, with long-term proposals to be debated in the autumn. Following complaints and concerns about a new twice-yearly schedule for grass cuts, TBC has now announced a stopgap solution, investing £30,000 to increase it to four cuts a year.Mr Radbourne said it had been "difficult" to find who was responsible for the three greens on the Churchill Grove estate."Both the town and borough councils said they're not responsible and GCC alluded to them being in the ownership of the developer," he said. "The original developer of the estate ceased to exist in the 1970s."
Mr Radbourne added that the other two greens were recently cut, but the third is "totally unsuitable" to be cut with a domestic lawnmower."There are two large trees on this green; if they caught fire, they're very close to houses, and it could be quite catastrophic," he said.
Eileen Hicks said the current state of the green, which her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren played on, was "soul-destroying"."Nobody can use it anymore," she said. "It's such an eyesore to look out on each day... we've always kept our gardens. I love my garden."Lisa Spivey, leader of GCC, thanked TBC for its "proactive efforts" in keeping Tewkesbury "looking its best"."While the county council is not in a position to maintain the level of cuts TBC undertook due to our own financial challenges, we remain committed to supporting and advising TBC as they work with local communities to explore alternative approaches," she said.
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