Request
I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning grounds maintenance carried out by Dover District Council in the Aycliffe area of Dover.
I would like to establish both the grounds-maintenance standard that the Council requires for Aycliffe and the frequency with which the work has actually been carried out.
Please provide the following information:
1. Grass-cutting specification and frequencies
Please provide the current grounds-maintenance specification, schedule or service standard covering council-maintained grassed areas within Aycliffe, including Aycliffe Recreation Ground.
For each relevant area, please provide:
- The scheduled or target frequency of grass cutting.
- The required or target cutting height, where specified.
- Any seasonal variations in cutting frequency.
- The frequency of strimming around fences, paths, trees, signs, street furniture and other obstacles.
- The frequency of edging and weed control.
- The frequency of hedge and shrub maintenance.
2. Aycliffe Recreation Ground and football pitch
Please provide the specific maintenance requirements for Aycliffe Recreation Ground, including the full-size football pitch.
Please include the required grass-cutting frequency, cutting height and any other scheduled pitch-maintenance operations.
3. Grounds-maintenance maps and schedules
Please provide any current maps, plans, spreadsheets, schedules, asset registers or other documents showing:
- The individual areas of land maintained by the Council within Aycliffe.
- The maintenance category assigned to each area.
- The task or maintenance codes assigned to those areas.
- The required frequency associated with each code or category.
Where task codes or maintenance categories are used, please also provide the document or information defining those codes and their required frequencies.
4. Actual grass-cutting records
Please provide records showing the dates on which grass cutting was actually carried out on council-maintained land within Aycliffe during the 24 months preceding the date of this request.
Where records allow, please identify the individual location or maintenance area associated with each visit. This should include Aycliffe Recreation Ground and the football pitch.
Please also provide records of any scheduled grass cuts during this period which were missed, cancelled or substantially delayed, together with any recorded reason for this.
5. Work records
If the Council records completion of grounds-maintenance work through worksheets, electronic job records, handheld devices, vehicle-management systems, grounds-maintenance software or another system, please provide the relevant recorded completion dates for Aycliffe for the same 24-month period.
I am not requesting personal information relating to individual Council employees.
6. Changes to the specification
Please provide details of any changes made during the last five years to the grass-cutting frequency or grounds-maintenance specification applicable to Aycliffe.
Please state when each change was introduced and, where recorded, the reason for the change.
Response
1. As follows:
- 2 weeks (March to October inclusive)
- 25mm
- The specification is flexible to accommodate weather variations, staff resources, and machinery breakdowns. The season can extend as necessary to accommodate growing variations.
- Following each cutting operation
- No set standard
- Annual hedge cutting dependent on hedge type, shrub beds between 1-12 visits per annum.
2. This is an informal recreation ground, and the pitch is not managed for organised football. It receives the same cutting frequency as grass around the estate.
3. These are available to view at the Council Offices and cannot be shared for copyright. Please contact gmenquiries@dover.gov.uk to arrange a convenient time to view.
- As above
- As above
- Can be reviewed at Council offices.
- As above
Only make sense when reviewed in conjunction with mapping. Please arrange a visit to the offices.
4. We only hold records for this year which are as follows:
Dates of mowing for Aycliffe recreation ground are:
10/03/26
24/03/26
14/04/26
29/04/26
12/05/26
27/05/26
09/06/26
09/07/26
28/07/26
11/08/26
24/08/26
09/09/26
Dates a mowing for Aycliffe estate:
08/04/26
22/04/26
07/05/26
28/05/26
17/06/26
16/07/26
21/09/26
5. This information is not held.
6. The bank frequency changed in recreation ground from monthly to annual.