Outcry as park greenery mistakenly 'mown into oblivion' by council contractor

An environmental group was left ‘infuriated and depressed’ this week after council contractors mistakenly destroyed biodiversity-boosting greenery at Kidwells Park.

This is not the first time this has happened. WildMaidenhead planted a hedge in the same spot which was unwittingly mowed down by council contractors a couple of years ago.

RBWM ‘apologised profusely’, said Martin Woolner, a founder member of WildMaidenhead – but now the same thing has happened again.

The young hedge was ‘mown into oblivion’ and is ‘now reduced to a tiny trunk’. A patch of carefully selected wildlife-supporting plants nearby met the same fate.

WildMaidenhead described this repeat mistake as ‘infuriating and depressing.’

Martin explained that RBWM’s main grounds contractors, Tivoli, were only supposed to remove some vines from the hedge but instead ‘mowed the lot down’ to ‘disastrous’ effect.

There have previously been similar errors at wildflower beds in Oaken Grove Park, WildMaidenhead reports.

Martin says the group has also been contacted by various residents regarding contractors ‘doing all sorts of strange things’ to vegetation in the area.

For example, there have been reports of them mowing dead, brown grass, said Martin – for which there is ‘no purpose’.

Dozens of people on Facebook have decried ‘totally unnecessary’ work, or maintenance done at the wrong time of year, in the wrong way.

Commenters questioned what they saw as overzealous mowing and the process of wildflowers being ‘strimmed to death’ the moment they appear.

Earlier this year, WildMaidenhead sat down with RBWM to address the ‘lamentable’ situation, which Martin attributes to a ‘breakdown in communication’ between RBWM and its contractors.

However, given that this doesn’t appear to have solved the problem, he thinks a wider consultation with residents may be in order.

Speaking on the accidental hedge destruction, Cllr Karen Davies, cabinet member for climate and biodiversity, said: “I completely appreciate the frustration when things like this happen.

“It seems instructions were not followed by the staff… This was raised with Tivoli’s regional manager and they have apologised and have agreed to replace the plants and reinstate the hedge.

“Council officers will make sure that happens.”

However, elsewhere, residents have also expressed concerns about the grounds work that is not being done in the borough.

Clewer and Dedworth East ward councillor Alison Carpenter (tBfI) and Sarah Walker, member of Windsor Conservative Association, have both highlighted the ‘really bad’ growth of street weeds and grass through drains and cracks in the road gutters.

Cllr Carpenter reported some stark examples of this to RBWM in June, yet the problem remains.

Sarah said: “Some of these are real hazards where pavement edges can’t even be seen.

“These are basic services on contract that the council should be accountable for.”

Cllr Davies said that the council is facing a ‘large backlog’ of maintenance work to tackle ‘due to years of neglect’.

She said RBWM has also been plugging gaps in its environmental services team caused by cuts made by the previous administration.

“[This] team had a high proportion of vacant posts for some years,” Cllr Davies said. “We've filled those posts this year and are already seeing improvements.”

Though Tivoli is currently still RBWM’s main grounds maintenance contractor, that contact is being re-procured and a new contract is set to come into effect next autumn.