Petition - Grass Cutting, Lammermoor Dr and Waverley Dr
North Lanarkshire Council · 2 November 2022
Back to Petitions Sub-Committee — 2 November 2022 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Petitions Sub Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref JA Date 02/11/22 Petition – Grass Cutting, Lammermoor Dr and Waverley Dr From John Ashcroft (Roads and Land Maintenance Manager) E-mail ashcroftj@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 632584 1. Background 1.1 As part of the council budget process for financial year 2019/20 a decision was taken by council at the meeting on 21 February 2019 to reduce areas of grass cutting from the council’s maintenance programme. 1.2 This saving centred around those areas of grass that were not within council ownership, and this resulted in a £90k saving and a subsequent reduction in seasonal staff of 5 FTE posts. 1.3 Prior to 1996 it was common for councils to undertake maintenance of public open spaces within residential developments. However, there was no legal obligation on authorities and in most cases the title relating to the open spaces was not transferred to the council. This meant that the legal responsibility for maintenance contained within the title burdens remains with the landowner/ homeowner. Executive Summary The purpose of the report is to advise the Committee of the investigations carried out in response to this petition for grass cutting at Lammermoor Drive and Waverley Drive. Recommendations It is recommended that Committee 1. Acknowledges the decision taken by Council on the 21 February 2019. 2. Acknowledges the investigations undertaken and confirmation that ownership does not rest with the council. 3. Agrees that the private areas of grass at Lammermoor Drive and Waverley Drive are not added into the council’s grass maintenance programme. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (17) Ensure we keep our environment clean, safe, and attractive
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1.4 It is now common that all newly created open spaces within residential developments are maintained by a factor on behalf of residents and the factor is generally appointed initially by the site developer. Following initial appointment the residents can change providers and processes are normally set out within the title deeds. 1.5 Given that these changes took place at the start of the pandemic the council also undertook one off cuts in the two years following the saving decision to provide an opportunity for alternative arrangements to be put in place. 2. Report 2.1 The council received a petition containing 10 signatures requesting that the grass be cut at the roadside at Lammermoor Drive and Waverley Drive, Greenfaulds, Cumbernauld. 2.2 A review of land ownership of those areas removed from maintenance as part of the Council’s budget process and agreed by Council on 21 February 2019 has been undertaken. The search confirmed that the areas shown hatched green in Appendix A were sold to Bett Brothers for the purpose of constructing a residential development. 2.3 A sample check of the title deeds for a property within the development has been carried out. The Fourth paragraph of Burden 1 places an obligation on the feuar(s) as follows. • “Declaring that the Feuars shall be responsible for the maintenance, repair and where necessary renewal of the said roads, streets, paths, play areas and recreation, landscaped or ornamental ground (except in so far as same may be provided, or taken over, by the appropriate Local Authority) all to the satisfaction of the Superiors and the appropriate Local Authority” 2.4 In terms of roads, streets and paths the council has an obligation under the Road Scotland Act 1984 to add new roads to the list of public roads where they are constructed to the appropriate standard. Thereafter, these assets would be maintained by the council as Roads Authority. No such legislative requirement exists for play areas and recreation, landscaped or ornamental ground. 2.5 In this instance ownership appears to remain with Bett Brothers (or successor company) however, individual properties do have burdens relating to maintenance of open spaces. Therefore, it would be prudent for the residents to seek legal advice to establish whether they have responsibility for maintenance or if this rests with the land owner. 2.6 Where maintenance rests with the resident’s information on setting up alternative maintenance arrangements can be found at Grass cutting | North Lanarkshire Council. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Alternative private arrangements are put in place to maintain the areas identified in Appendix A.
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4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix A – Plan showing areas removed from council maintenance programme John Ashcroft Roads and Land Maintenance Manager
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Appendix A
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed?