Highland Council’s Garden Aid Service to start
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A GARDEN Aid service which helps cut the grass of roughly 1300 Highland council house lawns is back up and running for the season.
The seasonal start of the Highland Council service had been put on hold during the coronavirus lockdown, but it has now announced plans to restart it from June 1.
Chairman of the council's housing and property committee, Cllr Ben Thompson, said: “Health and safety is our number one priority, so the decision was made to delay this years’ cutting season. We have now taken on board updated government advice, so are making arrangements to start up the 2020 service from next Monday.
“Over the last week housing staff have telephoned over 700 tenants to find out whether they are happy for us to cut their grass in line with the current guidance and protective measures. During these phone calls tenants have been advised that they can opt-out of the next few cuts if they wish to do so. So far no one has opted out and tenants have been very supportive of our approach.”
The council has contacted contractors to advise them that they will be able to start work from next Monday. The plan will be that they attempt to carry out two cuts per month as normal for the remainder of the season, accepting that there may be a longer than usual delay between the first and second cut due to gardens taking longer to cut than normal.
Cllr Thompson added: “The contractors will adhere to the government guidelines regarding social distancing and safe working practices. We would like to thank all our Garden Aid tenants for their patience and understanding.”
In anyone has any queries regarding Garden Aid, they should call Housing Services on 01349 886602.
