Concerns over grass cutting around Nenagh

At the most recent meeting of the Nenagh Municipal District meeting of Tipperary County Council, Cllr Seamie Morris expressed his concerns about the standard of grass cutting being carried out in the Nenagh MD area.

“It’s actually got worse,” stated Cllr Morris, after pointing out that he had raised his concerns about grass cutting in the previous Nenagh Municipal District Meeting while also re-reading the council’s contract with its contractor.

“People are so furious out there,” he said, highlighting his concerns about the amount of grass that is being left behind after grass has been cut on behalf of the local authority.

Large Scale Contract

Although Cllr Morris expressed his understanding that the contractors has a ‘huge area’ of the Nenagh Municipal District to cover as part of this contract, he did state that they were “not doing what they were asked to do”.

Cllr Morris expressed his opinion that grass cutting should be carried out in-house with staff employed by Tipperary County Council.

“I got calls on this all summer,” expressed Cllr Fiona Bonfield, pointing out that it’s a “difficult job for a contractor to do.”

Cllr Fiona Bonfield said that the tender process for the role needs to be looked at and pointed out that the contractor was only cutting grass to go back and cut it again a short time later.

“It’s not a good job that’s he’s doing, but it’s a difficult job that he’s doing,” she said.

Cllr John Carroll also called for the tender process to be looked at and said that the lowest tender is the cause of the problem and that it is having an impact on work not fully being completed.

‘It’s a massive contract’

A council spokesperson stated that it was a ‘massive contract’ and that the local authority does not have the staff to carry out this work in-house. He also stated that the council would look to improve the contract next year. He pointed out that it is a massive contract for the Nenagh MD area and that it is a contract that is heavily fuel dependent. He also stated that there are very few contractors with the capacity to carry out this contract.

Cllr Michael O’Meara stated that environmentally, a high amount of cutting grass in estates is destructive and pointed out how it would have an impact on wildlife and biodiversity.

“In Tipperary, we could have a more proactive approach to biodiversity,” he said.

Cllr JP O’Meara recalled a situation where he used some flower-seeds to reclaim an area where grass had been ‘sprayed to death’ and that it was a very cheap solution that was fabulous to look at during the summer.

Following a short discussion on wildflower seeds, local councillors called for a pilot project to use flower-seeds on suitable areas of grass to cut down on grass cutting in the Nenagh MD area.