Croydon Council has started a new season of grass cutting that will see 1.1 million square metres of highway verges, 850,000 square metres of housing land and 190 areas of parks and open spaces, cut regularly until October.

Grass is scheduled to be cut every six weeks along the highways, open spaces and parks, and every five weeks on council housing land.

This is part of the Council’s improvements to the service that includes £1.5million investment in new equipment and additional resources from contractors.

Residents can also expect to receive more updates on how the grass cutting is going throughout the year.

Residents in Council housing have helped to shape the service and were involved in setting the new schedule for cutting on estates. They will continue to be involved in monitoring performance and appointing the long-term contractor.

Until last year, the Council had been working with old data that did not reflect all the Council-owned green and open spaces in the borough. Following investment in mapping technology, all Council-owned parks and green spaces have been digitally mapped. This accurate data and the new interactive mapping allows for real-time reporting so the service can better plan the schedule across the borough.

To support pollinators and wildlife, the Council will work with Friends of Groups to leave selected environmental areas within parks uncut throughout the year.

This year, highway verges – which cover the equivalent of 160 Selhurst Park football pitches – will all be maintained, except for some grass verges, such as where the rare Lizard Orchid flowered last year.

“I know how important maintaining our parks and open spaces is to our community. I am pleased we have been able to invest in the service, so we have an improved programme of grass cutting this year.

“Residents have already started to see the improvements, and it will mean a better experience for everyone visiting Croydon’s open spaces this spring and summer.

“We have a great team maintaining our green spaces and we will continue to look for more opportunities to improve this important service across the borough.”

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon