County Council changes verge mowing regime

This year hard decisions have had to be made, with an ever tightening budget and the priority being made for adult and children social care services. Consequently, the council will reduce its verge mowing regime to two cuts per year. Where there is a need for road safety reasons, additional mowing will take place at road junctions.

Sue Scane, Director for Environment and Economy at Oxfordshire County Council said: “We appreciate that this is not welcome news for residents but with budgets becoming tighter and tighter, we had to look at the best place to spend limited resources.”

There are some environmental benefits to reducing mowing of grass verges, but where there is a local desire to increase the frequency some town and parish councils are working closely with the County to take over responsibility for grass cutting. Discussions with town and parish councils are on-going across the county but it is unlikely that changes will be made until 2016/17.

Sue Scane said: “I am pleased that many town and parishes across the county have come forward to work with us to meet the gap in funding and will work with any parish that wants to explore this option in the future.”

Any parish or town council who would like further information can email localities@oxfordshire.gov.uk.