Grass Cutting

Post by **cnosni** » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 8:31 am

All these services,the grass cutting etc,were part of the councils responsibilites.Seeing a way of making more money from an already profitable part of their organisation they decided to put these services out to tender,rather than keep them in house.The benefit of this to the council was a reduced bill for NI,annual leave and sickness,plus one less department likely to take strike action in the future.So the tenders were naturally awarded to private firms who now are running round like headless chickens trying to do the same amount of work,but so THEY can extract every penny they have paid for the contract,with less staff.Bit of Maths hereSame work - less staff = poorer quality.Naturally as the work is no longer done by the council then they can refer complaints to the companies concerned.Very clever because they have not just designated responsibility,but have abdicated it.

Post by **cnosni** » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 8:33 am

Brandy wrote: Not to mention the mess that the doylem with the blower makes! what's all that about???He comes running down after the grassbutcher has finished and starts blasting away like something out of ghostbusters! Youve got a thing about ghosts this week havent you Brandy

Si · Post by Si » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 8:59 am

On a similar theme, last week some blokes were clearing the drainage ditches by the road on top of Otley Chevin. Half the mud ended up on the road, but they did put up two home-made signs saying, "MUD ON ROAD."On the back of one, some wag had sprayed, "Car Wash £5!"

Si · Post by Si » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 9:05 am

chameleon wrote: Ever see how they cut hedges? Around us we see the efforts of the local farmers - Hawthorne rows, cut so prcisely you could put a level on them and be happy - and that's using a cutter on a blooming great tractor!Council contractors had five guys 'dealing' with a similar hedge along the road nearby, doing it by hand and what a mess - undulating to plus or minus a foot and a half. Actually, it did look as though they'd done it by had, litterally, looked as though branches had been wrenched off. If the general level of (very loud) vocabulary was anything to go by, every second word punctuated with inaccurate and anatomically impossible descriptions, no wonder the hedges stood little chance!Won't even go near grass-cutting. There's a couple of points of view here. The mechanical cutting creates a neater look to the hedge, but is supposed to be less friendly to wildlife than careful hand trimming. However, animals are more likely to fear the smell of humans than the transitory noise of a machine. For example, the verges of motorways are a haven to wildlife as it is humans they fear, not traffic. No, Chameleon. Don't start me on the grass-cutting, either!

Post by **cnosni** » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 9:11 am

Si wrote: On a similar theme, last week some blokes were clearing the drainage ditches by the road on top of Otley Chevin. Half the mud ended up on the road, but they did put up two home-made signs saying, "MUD ON ROAD."On the back of one, some wag had sprayed, "Car Wash £5!" Thats odd,because i thought it was only Showaddywaddy (said in a Jimmy Saville voice) who were on tour at the moment.

Si · Post by Si » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 9:20 am

cnosni wrote: Si wrote: On a similar theme, last week some blokes were clearing the drainage ditches by the road on top of Otley Chevin. Half the mud ended up on the road, but they did put up two home-made signs saying, "MUD ON ROAD."On the back of one, some wag had sprayed, "Car Wash £5!" Thats odd,because i thought it was only Showaddywaddy (said in a Jimmy Saville voice) who were on tour at the moment. Now then, now then, guys'n'gals, just around the corner of your mind, for two points....

Post by **cnosni** » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 11:32 am

Si wrote: cnosni wrote: Si wrote: On a similar theme, last week some blokes were clearing the drainage ditches by the road on top of Otley Chevin. Half the mud ended up on the road, but they did put up two home-made signs saying, "MUD ON ROAD."On the back of one, some wag had sprayed, "Car Wash £5!" Thats odd,because i thought it was only Showaddywaddy (said in a Jimmy Saville voice) who were on tour at the moment. Now then, now then, guys'n'gals, just around the corner of your mind, for two points.... Qualityhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tzhZ6bnZ6ikNow then now then....

Lilysmum · Post by **Lilysmum** » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 11:43 am

I have been having an ongoing battle with the council about the state the grass cutting contractors leave our streets in since the beginning of the year.......and got nowhere.Also a couple of weeks ago I went to the cemetery to put some flowers on my hubby's grave and they had been let loose in there too!!Two numptys careering round on kabota machines, knocking over gravestones and churning the place up.To add insult to injury one of the blokes chucked the remains of the sarnie he was eating onto someones grave.I got onto the cemeteries dept and was assured the matter would be looked into and someone would get back to me and guess what ? not heard a thing!!Im not normally a complainer but these contractors are being paid to do a job and not doing it.Grrrr

Si · Post by Si » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 12:13 pm

This is the damage the grass cutters did to my great grandparents' grave in New Wortley cemetery.

rangieowner · Post by **rangieowner** » Wed 01 Oct, 2008 12:29 pm

PEOPLE OF LEEDS!!!! you have a right to complain!! too many times i have heard "Ohh i don't want to make a fuss" or "I don't like to complain" get knotted!! in the words of the great John Cleese "If you want anything doing these days you've got to complain till you're blue in the mouth" so GET ON WITH IT!!!!!!!!!