Ref: PR2201
Date: 27/04/09

Wakefield Council's first dedicated grass cutting crews and prestige gardeners have been launched to deal with over 600 acres of grass during the spring and summer.

The crews will look after all the grassed areas in the parks, public spaces and roadside verges across the district. The highly skilled prestige gardeners will take care of the grass in special areas like cricket pitches and golf courses, as well as using their horticultural expertise on the district's flower beds.

Along with different shifts patterns and increased working hours the crews will be using new machinery - including the 'grillo' a specialised ride-on mower to use on steep slopes and a remote controlled mower nicknamed 'the spider' - to help ensure they can safely stay on top of the district's summer grass cutting, even in hard to reach areas.

Peter Box, Leader of Wakefield Council and Joanne Roney, Chief Executive got to grips with some of the new equipment with one of the teams in Wakefield's Thornes Park.

Cllr Peter Box said: "We have some wonderful parks and public spaces which we want to look their best, especially at this time of year. Our investment in new ways of working and equipment will help to make the district a cut above the rest this spring and summer."

ENDS