Grounds Maintenace Sounding Board Update Q3 ... - Festival Housing

Taking the
Service In
House
You may recall back in June 2012 we discussed the principle of
taking the grounds maintenance service in house. This was
subsequent to the Residents Conference at the beginning of the
month when the question was taken to residents for their views. As a
result of the positive feedback, a proposal was presented to the
Festival Board and approved this in principle subject to Festival
Property Care submitting a successful business case which they are
currently working on aiming to complete by the end of March.
As a prudent move, the existing contract with Vale Contract Services
has been extended until 31 December 2012 which will give us the
time to go out to tender again if the FPC business case is
unsuccessful.
If successful, however, consideration then needs to be given to what
could be done with the money that will be generated from savings on
the contract. Ideas so far have been:
• Extend the cutting cycle into the autumn.
• Reduce the visit cycle so that sites are cut more frequently.
• Do more tree works.
• Start a refurbishment programme of beds in residential
schemes.
• Set up a separate litter picking team.
• Participating in projects with local community groups (such as
the Pickersleigh Project and Green Collar) or funding initiatives
with the Probation Service
I would be interested to have your views and have attached a return
sheet detailing the ideas above and leaving space for your comments
and additional suggestions. Could you please return this either by
email or in the envelope provided by Friday 15 February. If you’d
like me to come and see you so that we can have a chat about this,
let me know by ringing or emailing me and we’ll arrange a date.