Topic: Look what happens when you close down a Parks Department

[kohima]

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The allotments used to be run or overseen, by a Mr Hambridge, and his deputy, who used to change with the wind, the rumour was that in the current closure life of the council, Mr Hambridge had gone also.  Today I received a leter from the council, well to be truthful, every tenant got one, about the reasons we cant now have bonfires up here, the letter is signed by one, Mr Hambridge, quote Parks and Green Spaces Manager, unquote, so it would seem that they are keeping someone who knows what a spade is or not...... just moving them around.

[Tea Boy]

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We will be losing people who are completely qualified to know what to do, who are dedicated and passionate about improving the park where they work but have been underfunded to get on with it. Instead we will get a bunch of cowboys who will probably use slash and burn techniques as a way to manage a park.

Losing..... Lost, never to return. What will govern parks now won't be whay is right for the park, or its users, it will be whatever gives the next photo opportunity. Watch out for the next hairbrained sche, at coate that will probably be reusing the diving board.......

Of course, with SCS being in charge you will get what ever can be afforded within the budget, which I'm guessing won't be a lot.

SCS does still have skilled people, there's just not that many of us left anymore. Certainly not enough to provide anywhere near the presence needed.

Good luck to those rangers locality liaisons  that are left.

Before Rich posts it, That's four gone and no one left, would the last person to leave please turn off the lights

[Tea Boy]

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Mr Hambridge, quote Parks and Green Spaces Manager, unquote

We have heard Hambo was now contract manager for streetsmart and would be monitoring SCS contracts.

I expect the powers that be thought you might ignore a letter from some one with that title. So he used his old one.

Either that or he couldnt be arsed to change his already formatted standard letter........

Anyway... Will you be complying?

[kohima]

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The letter said that we had to take our rubbish to the tiip by car and not burn it anymore, so I have wrote back and said that my car is fairly new so to put rubbish init defeats the object of buying it, so have once again asked for trailers that we used to get, and also asked if the parks dept can be so quick to send out letters about bonfire after someone complains, how come we aint got no water.........

[Muggins]

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What rubbish do you have left that from allotmenting you can't take home or compost then?

Sounds like a huge allotment compost heap is the thing.  The whole ethos of the government and our administration is that God helps them that helps themselves, and God is all you have to depend on because you won't be getting any help from them.

Water, why should the rest of us pay for your water?  No doubt if you wrote as a group of allotmenteers, and said you would share the water bill for the allotment,  they would read the meter and switch it back on tomorrow (if there is anyone left to switch it on). I doubt your annual rent for your plot covers the water. What does it say in your agreement?

Add to that when they give out the contract to the 'I don't know one end of a spade from the other landscaping Ltd.' you'll get pretty short shrift from them as well.

Down the Orchard we have a volunteer who gets there early for our work party, goes around the Orchard AND the outside, clears up, takes it home with him and we have a burn up once a year of clean prunings etc.

Sounds to me someone has been burning unpleasant things and taking advantage.

[kohima]

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No, we have a few people who live in Wheeler ave, who think that this is gods country and smoke is not part of that life, so any time you attempt to have a fire if it blows anywhere near to their houses they come out and have a rant and so it goes on, as I said, we used to get trailers to take away the rubbish, but when somebody on the walcot plot used their trailer to take away some couches and asbestos they shut it all down,
We pay for the water we use, in our rates that we pay now, the non water issue is one of them laying a pipe that is not big enough to service 6 water buts, and now they have also connected it to another plot down the lane, so the flow is now even slower, we dont get water in a constant flow just when anybody is filling up the buts..

[Tea Boy]

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No, we have a few people who live in Wheeler ave, who think that this is gods country and smoke is not part of that life, so any time you attempt to have a fire if it blows anywhere near to their houses they come out and have a rant and so it goes on, as I said, we used to get trailers to take away the rubbish, but when somebody on the walcot plot used their trailer to take away some couches and asbestos they shut it all down,
We pay for the water we use, in our rates that we pay now, the non water issue is one of them laying a pipe that is not big enough to service 6 water buts, and now they have also connected it to another plot down the lane, so the flow is now even slower, we dont get water in a constant flow just when anybody is filling up the buts..

Well then..... Look what happens when you close down a parks department.

QED

[Muggins]

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Asbestos?   How the heck did that get on an allotment site, and it must have been a jolly good job they did close it down, the stuff is toxic!

[kohima]

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we have had the water problem since before Chrystabel left, so its an ongoing problem, that cant be blamed on parks there or not..

[Bassettina]

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So Swindon is getting rid of all its parks staff? Just like that? Insane.

[Muggins]

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And Rangers - no consultation, no information - just gone!

No idea what's going to replace, it only guess wor

[Tea Boy]

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So Swindon is getting rid of all its parks staff? Just like that? Insane.

Us gardeners are still here. But as muggins says, all the rangers and staff from the offices mostly left, the last few remaining are scrabbling for these locality liaison roles. They might not know what they are doing or how to do it, but at least they have a job.

[Jean]

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Thought that you might be interested in this. The only service that Swindon Borough Council provides for the Richard Jefferies Museum is grass-cutting (the mowings are left in situ). Otherwise, volunteers do all the work in the Museum and gardens without funding.

The grounds are pretty big (I think they cover around 2.5 acres) and divided into six separate sections - all with grass, but with trees and shrubs in the way that have to be negotiated carefully.

The work is contracted out to SCS now and I have moaned about the quality of the work in the past as there is a lot of raking to do afterwards on the "lawn" areas whilst saplings and plants have been destroyed. However, I was shocked when I saw how much they got to do the job. SCS charge a measly £21.43 (incl VAT) for every visit and they don't visit that often. Sometimes they do a bit more for the same money and strim areas that can't be mowed, for which I'm extremely grateful. For a couple of years, the team cut the grass and didn't get paid at all!!

Now, if I had to earn a living cutting grass with a team of workers, machinery to fuel, transport and maintain, I wouldn't get out of bed for £21.43.

On another thread there is a quote from Geoff about Equion charging £27.50 + vat to change one light bulb as a result of the insane pfi system?

I have no idea how much SCS charge for other jobs, but if they are doing work at the rates I quote, how long can they remain commercially viable and what sort of standard can they possibly achieve?

If SCS take over grounds maintenance at the Country Parks - what can we expect?

[Richard Beale]

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So Swindon is getting rid of all its parks staff? Just like that? Insane.

Us gardeners are still here.

And thankfully you are, for now anyway. At least someones still cares

[Bassettina]

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So Swindon is getting rid of all its parks staff? Just like that? Insane.

Us gardeners are still here. But as muggins says, all the rangers and staff from the offices mostly left, the last few remaining are scrabbling for these locality liaison roles. They might not know what they are doing or how to do it, but at least they have a job.

Good - glad some knowledgable people are staying put.

I can't help thinking these cuts will end up rebounding on the council. Swindon has nice parks - after 6 months of industrial grass cutting and not much else, I can't see local people and park users being too happy. Parks are man made things, used by lots of people. You can't sit back and exepect 'nature' to keep it tidy, replanted, safe, open, empty bins, community involvement, etc...

What will happen to the ranger-run walks?

[jennyb]

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B,

Given the rapacious drive for land I would be very worried indeed about our parks being set up to drift into neglect.

Remember SBC decided that the Croft was excess green space and that the covenant didn't matter and they would build on it.

Officers only saw fit to mention this in the Croft Planning Report  and Ward Councillors never mentioned it at all.  Well, I guess that Cllr Bawden stated that the School would go ahead and that we were irrelevant.

Naively we believed a fair hearing would occur at the Planning Committee.

SBC also have the Croft marked for future expansion.

Who decided all of this is a mystery. For sure NO residents/tax payers were asked. 

If this can happen at the Croft it can happen anywhere. 

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nocroftschool/

[kohima]

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Kenny, if there is a convenant on the lad, then get it evoked or put up for consideration, we did at pickards field small and they are now having to rethink the plot to build houses on the old allotment land as there is now no access over the land called kembrey grass, which had the covenant on it..

[Richard Beale]

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Kenny, if there is a convenant on the lad, then get it evoked or put up for consideration, we did at pickards field small and they are now having to rethink the plot to build houses on the old allotment land as there is now no access over the land called kembrey grass, which had the covenant on it..

And which naughty person told the interested persons where to look......

[kohima]

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salga and a lady called josie lewis, put together and paid for a solicitor, who was paid about £200 an hour and he found out, and he also found about the rules for handing over vacant allotment land, which the council hadnt done in regard of this plot, nor I would think have they done with the plot by drakes way, that they gave away, so they could build a road into the old GWR sports ground..

[Richard Beale]

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salga and a lady called josie lewis, put together and paid for a solicitor, who was paid about £200 an hour and he found out, and he also found about the rules for handing over vacant allotment land, which the council hadnt done in regard of this plot, nor I would think have they done with the plot by drakes way, that they gave away, so they could build a road into the old GWR sports ground..

Nice lady, Josie.