Basildon Council to reintroduce summer prune next year

Pitsea South East labour councillor Ben Westwick urged the council to increase the number of grass verges cut every year and reintroduce the summer prune – aimed at cutting back hedges and brambles – after it was axed by the Tory administration. 

Basildon Council agreed to bring the scheme back during summer next year after Mr Westwick claimed overgrown hedges and brambles were in a “dangerous state” and forcing parents with pushchairs to walk in the road.

Overgrown - An overgrown area in Basildon from January (Image: Ben Sharabi)

Mr Westwick said: “The whole reason for me putting this together is that I work in grounds maintenance and have gone down the horticultural side of this. The main thing which a lot of residents have brought up is the safety with overgrown hedges.

“This was making parents walk in the road, disabled residents walk in the road and it is about time that the summer prune is reintroduced as the state of out borough is appalling.”

A vote on Mr Westwick’s motion was passed and alongside additional hedge and bramble maintenance, grass verge cutting will be increased from eight cuts to ten cuts a year. 

The previous Tory administration scrapped the summer prune and reduced grass verge cuts as part of a cost-cutting exercise in 2023. 

Mr Westwick said: “Residents have been coming to myself about this and whether that is through emails or social media, it is sad, genuinely sad and I am passionate about grounds and maintenance.

“Some residents were getting cuts from brambles and were being stung by nettles because they couldn’t go down the footpaths that were there, but that is the whole reason it must be reintroduced, and it will be next year as the motion has passed.”

The motion is the first moved by Mr Westwick, something he said makes him feel “massively honoured.”

He added that in his ward Rectory Road is a standout example of the problem but said that the issues are “bad everywhere, there is no one place that is worse.”