Management Plan for Firth Park - MP4-Interreg

All green waste is removed from the park and transported to Concord Park one mile away
for composting. All tree and shrub pruning are chipped and composed and re used on
shrub beds and boarders as summer mulch.
The pavilions and buildings in the park generate a lot of waste and this is separated out by
the caretakers for limited recycling via Veolia the city councils waste contractor.
All cardboard packaging is separated from plastic and recycled.
The park also acts as a limited public recycling centre for paper and glass currently this is
situated outside the Clocktower as well as the new recycling facility in the corner of
Hucklow Road car park.
5.2.4 Well maintained
The grounds maintenance work within the park is carried out by the Parks and Countryside
dedicated gardeners who are based within the park together with a supervisor who is also
responsible for a small number of other local sites with the area.
The team have there own maintenance machinery which is based within the first start
centre and are able to undertake the majority of the maintenance within the park area.
The main grassed area in the park is cut by a gang mower, by Street force, the councils
contracting service on a large area based maintenance route.
The natural areas around donkey hill in the park are subject to a separate maintenance
regime and are left in a natural condition to encourage wildlife and habitat development
The small stream, which runs through the park, is part of the wider area drainage system
and takes floodwater during storm conditions. A programme of major re engineering work
was carried out in the area to improve water quality of the stream during periods of high
rainfall. These works have reduced the level of pollution within the stream in the park and
encouraged wild life to the area.
The stream area does cause problem with litter, which blows in amongst the dense
planting. This area normally gets two litter collections during the year. (Spring and
autumn).
5.2.5 Staff skills
The dedicated staff within the park attends a number of training programmes each year to
improve the skills and expertise. Staffs are given personal appraisals to determine their
individual training needs
The staff skill audit outlines the level of experience
Job Title Experience in years Skill level
Supervisor Richard Allen 20/25 29
Gardener Andrew Hudson 20/25 25
Gardener David Taylor 0/5 12
Facility Manager David Rice 20 30+
Caretaker Errol Brown 0/5 14
Caretaker Darren Teesdale 0/7 19
Caretaker Simon Simpson 0/3 9
Fig 20 Extracts from the Staff Skill Audit carried out in 2007
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