Girsecutting

[Ghostrider]

I was amused to see that despite the fact that they still have to make their first visit to some of the outlying areas, that they felt the need to whizz around the most obvious areas in the town for a second cut, mere days after they had done the first one. I'm sure you can all work out what they're trying there.

 

The bins in the playparks around Shetland still aren't being emptied (Hayfield included, Lolzord), the hard surfaces still aren't being swept, the planted areas still aren't being maintained, the litter still isn't being picked up, and there are loads of places (playparks included) which haven't even had their first cut yet. I find it incredibly galling that they are apparently "getting away" with this.

 

I wonder how closely the record they'll submit this month to the council, of work completed, correlates to the actual work they've done?

 

This seems to be the standard they're setting, right enough....

 

Not in the town hereabouts, but they were back Wed 26th and gave the playpark and waste ground the second cut, so they'd only lost 2-3 days time against the gardens this time round, but they still failed to give the few hundred yards of verge even it's first cut.

 

Perhaps the fact there are council houses let to council employees which either overlook or can easily see the play area, plus the neighbourhood tends to be visited by sundry council staff on quite a regular basis for a variety of reasons earned it the extra attention. The grass is growing much faster now, and will do so for at least the next 6 weeks, so if they're going to fall apart on the job those weeks will prove it one way or the other.

[Guest Anonymous]

I ken you'll no laek me sayin dis bit da girse aboot wis his never been cut better.

Da boys dat dit hit wirnae fae Shetland bit dey wir very polite whin dey spak tae me, dey even said please and thankyou. Da wirds used by da previous boys just wirna fur repeatin. Tae da point whaur I hed reason tae complain tae da cooncil aboot dem.

[penfold]

I hope dey wirna using ageist wirds tae de Rasmie (da auld een)

[petergear]

Yup, I'm afraid that some of our competitors' staff were notoriously poor at customer relations, and you wouldn't have been the first to have cause to complain about their manners. Unfortunately their work wasn't always up to much either, which is one of the reasons this new firm aren't getting many complaints. I'm fairly certain the staff you're talking about weren't in my employ.

[petergear]

dey wir very polite whin dey spak tae me, dey even said please and thankyou

 

The boys working for this outfit do indeed seem to be very polite, hard-working and well-intentioned.

 

I have no issue with the workers. The problem is that there are not enough of them; there would need to be more than double the manpower if Golder Landscapes were to actually conform to the new specification.

 

Bear in mind that the frequency of cut has increased dramatically for all categories of ground, and that they would be expected to be showing an improvement on previous years' standards.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm no wantin tae say ill o' onybody, and I'm a great beleiver in keepin wark in da isle.

 

But bits o girse dat wir meant tae be cut in wir area hivna been cut for 4 years, unless I cut dem mysell.

When I challenged da previous cotractors dey said. "Why tae hell should we do it if do can do it fur wis".

But dis new boys cam wi a map o whit dey hed tae do,,, and sausage me dey actually did it.

I wid still rather hae dis wark done by locals, and I will be da first tae kick da cooncils muckle sphincter for pittin da wark oot o da isle..

[Ghostrider]

But dis new boys cam wi a map o whit dey hed tae do,,, and sausage me dey actually did it.

 

Hits ah peety den dey didna and dunna tink aw ida Ness warrants dirs dun da same wye den.

[Guest Anonymous]

I hope dey wirna using ageist wirds tae de Rasmie (da auld een)

I'm no sae auld actually Just some sausage took my favourite nickname afore me

But i'm auld enough tae ken dat "Da aulder da ram, da stiffer da horn"

[Rourkes Drift]

Go on Peter - keep up the good work, your a great man!

[penfold]

r dey lattin da girse grow under der feet?

[Rasmie]

I

: Just some sausage took my favourite nickname afore me

But i'm auld enough tae ken dat "Da aulder da ram, da stiffer da horn"

 

I doot I hed my nickname lang afore dee. at least 49 years.

An hits fairly true as weel

[Guest Anonymous]

I

: Just some sausage took my favourite nickname afore me

But i'm auld enough tae ken dat "Da aulder da ram, da stiffer da horn"

 

I doot I hed my nickname lang afore dee. at least 49 years.

An hits fairly true as weel

 

If du his been nicknamed Rasmie fur 49 years langer dan me, dan du man be deid by noo

[Guest Anonymous]

Seriously though,, back tae da Girse.

Peter, how often should play areas be cut ???

[Ghostrider]

Wel, they were round here again on Monday, almost a week later than on previous cycles, by which time the girse in the play park was running to seed and up to peerie bairns knees. They had double to triple the manpower and machinery on the job, and it still took them almost twice as long as ever before. the fact the ground they did is still standing as white as a sileage rig attests to it's length before they started.

 

To me at least, they seem to be slowly sinking and struggling to make up the ground they've lost, even with more staff and more/better machinery. Plus, that few hundred yards of verge that always got done in the past has yet to be touched for the first time yet this year.

[Trowiemonster]

So much for sustainable procurement!

 

The SIC’s new ‘Corporate' procurement policy (adopted in June 2005) is supposedly “driven by the Council’s commitment to supporting a healthy, diverse and sustainable local economy underpinned by equality of opportunity and good environmental management†(http://www.shetland.gov.uk/news-advice/bulletins/2006/02/prexla0224.asp)

 

This policy was created in response to the slating the SIC received from the Account’s Commission for their “lack of corporate approach to procurement†(www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/ publications/pdf/2005/05pf03ac.pdf).

 

Have any figures been quoted for how much the SIC have supposedly saved on this one?

 

The Scottish Executive guidelines on public procurement (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/SPD/17839/13744) state (section 4.1) that: “purchasers and end-users can play an important part in meeting sustainable development objectives and can in assisting the development and use of goods and services which are environmentally preferable. It is essential that purchasers and end-users are familiar with, and take full account of, relevant sustainable development objectives when buying goods and services.â€

 

This decision to import people to cut grass is clearly not in line with the SIC’s vision of a "sustainable and self-sufficient community", as set out in the local community plan 'Together - Shetland' and in the Council’s Corporate Plan.

 

You have probably been down this road Peter, but, hey, I'm certainly up for hassling the procurement team on this matter!

 

TM