Maintaining open spaces

Information on the grounds maintenance service, including grass and hedge cutting, and care of open space amenity areas

What we maintain

Our Commercial Service section are responsible for all aspects of grounds maintenance of council owned amenity areas across the borough. We also cut some of the Norfolk County Council owned grass verges on their behalf.

Grass cutting

The grass cutting season runs, on average, from March/April through to October/November.

We cut our grassed areas across the borough at various frequencies, depending on how often it's needed and the type of site it is.

Before reporting an issue with any of our grass cutting, please read the following guidance:

• we cut all grass on all council owned land
• we don't cut grass that is privately owned, or that has been planted with bulbs
• housing associations are responsible for cutting their own grass
• rain and wet ground conditions will sometimes make it difficult or even dangerous to operate mowing machines, and can lead to delays in the grass cutting schedules
• extremely dry weather cause the grass growth rate to slow up, which may mean that it would not be necessary to cut the grass each time
• we've recently changed our grass cutting regimes which includes leaving more grass longer for wildlife (we have also changed the number of cuts carried out on all other areas to match the use and type of area)
• we don't weed spray any public footpaths or kerbs as these are the responsibility of Norfolk County Council - you can report issues directly on their website
• we won't cut grass on verges that have car(s) parked on them due to the risk of damage to those vehicles

If your problem has not been covered in the above points, please complete our online form.

Hedge cutting

We cut hedges that are on council owned land. But we're limited to the times and frequency that this can be carried out due to the ground bird nesting season. We can only cut hedges between September and February providing that birds are not nesting early or late in the season.

Norfolk County Council are responsible for cutting their own hedges, and for maintaining the visibility of road signs.

Before reporting an issue within any of our hedge cutting please read the following guidance:

• we cut all hedges on council owned land twice per year
• we don't cut hedges that are privately owned or where birds are nesting
• hedges on private land that are blocking pavements, footpaths or public highways can be reported direct to Norfolk County Council - Highways
• you can report a hedge that requires cutting at any time. But this will not be dealt with until the bird nesting season is over

If your problem has not been covered in the above points, please complete our online form.