BARNSLEY Council’s neighbourhood services will consider investing in machines which collect cut grass after complaints made by residents and councillors.
Following an overview and scrutiny meeting last month, a series of recommendations were made by members relating to ‘dangerous’ discarded mounds of cuttings.
A fire in a field at the back of Keresforth Primary School in Gilroyd last summer - which saw flames spread quickly and covered 500 sq metres at its peak - was attributed to large mounds of dry grass acting like ‘tinder’.
The rate of grass-cutting has increased this year, from every 25 days to every 21, but it is not the council’s policy to remove the mounds left by the mowing.
However, a report said: “Neighbourhood services will consider machines which can collect grass as it is cut across the borough.
“Members raised concerns from residents that when grass is cut, large amounts of it are left across pavements and pathways.
“This is not only unsightly, but gets carried into communal areas which then require cleaning and it also becomes dangerous as it is slippery.”
