Glasgow Southside councillor hits out over growing problem in greenspaces

Councillors have spoken out about overgrown greenspaces across the city.

At a full council meeting, Conservative councillor Kyle Thornton said he had been inundated with complaints about overgrown grass verges and unkept parks in his ward – Newlands/Auldburn.

He raised his concerns after Labour councillor Martin McElroy spoke out the state of Riddrie Park Cemetery where the grass is so long visitors can’t find the head stones of their loved ones.

Cllr Thornton said: “My frustration is that since I became a councillor every time we get to this time of year the complaints about grass cutting come in.

“I’m not talking about verges or things like that I am talking about parks across this city that are left looking as if they are growing out of control.

“Not to put staff out to cut the grass, to allow our parks to grow long and not to fulfil a basic service to keep our parks in use – then that to me is the department not meeting a basic service standard.

“What specific measures will be taken to address this? I don’t think it is rocket science – the grass grows in the spring and the summer.”

Councillor Martin McElroy asked the city convener if she thought allowing grass to grow in a cemetery hiding the gravestones was acceptable.

He said: “My constituents contacted me about the state of Riddrie Park Cemetery where the grass was two feet long and a family who had come to visit to pay their respects couldn’t even find the headstone. What will be done to address this?”

Councillor Anna Richardson, city convenor for sustainability and carbon reduction, asked Mr McElroy to provide her more information on this situation.

She also pointed out that services would decide how open and green spaces should be maintained which would have the best outcome for the community while tackling climate change.

She said: “We will continue with a local approach to ensure that priorities are actioned as quickly as possible. We do need to continue to revise our grass cutting strategy city-wide to ensure we are using our resources affectively but also to ensure our greenspaces have the best local impact possible.

“We will be exploring how much uncut habitat across the city can be enhanced with wildflower planting over coming seasons while building on the wildflower areas we have.”