BRIDGEND council is set to transfer more than £300,000 worth of capital funding from their budget this year in order to develop an in-house grass-cutting service.
A decision to approve the recommendation to full council was given at a cabinet meeting held on September 24 and could see a sum of £340,000 moved from an existing capital project for Ravens Court offices that is no longer needed.
The cash will make up part of the costs for getting the new rural grass-cutting service up and running, with the funds largely needed for the purchase of new equipment such as mowers, along with work that is required at the authority’s Bryncethin depot.
The change comes after a meeting in January of 2024, where it was decided to bring the service back in-house, as members felt it would be more cost-effective and flexible if run alongside the service for grass cutting at parks, which was already carried out by the council.
Officers told members in attendance that an order for the necessary equipment would need to be placed before September 30 if it was to be available for them to use in March 2025.
They added that work had already been undertaken with their job evaluation team with recruitment of staff for the new service expected to begin as soon as the autumn.
The report read: “It has been identified that capital resources to the value of £446,000, currently allocated to Ravens Court in the capital programme, are now no longer required for the purpose originally intended.
“It is proposed that £340,000 of the £446,000 be vired to support the estimated costs associated with the delivery of the urban and rural grass-cutting service in-house.”
Councillor Paul Davies is the cabinet member for climate change and the environment and added how he hoped that as well as bringing it back in-house the service could also be improved. He added: “I support the report. We’ve got a vision to bring this service back in house as a cabinet and officers have acted on that.”
