Seaford Town Council has recently been invited to consider how many urban grass verge cuts take place annually in Seaford.

Urban grass verge cutting is under the responsibility of East Sussex Highways, and there are currently two cuts scheduled per year, with East Sussex Highways selecting the dates for these cuts.

East Sussex Highways is proposing to continue with the current arrangement of providing two cuts per year which has no cost to the Town Council, however it has given the Town Council an opportunity to pay for additional cuts. The Town Council has been offered the following two options only to consider:

Option A – To agree to continue with East Sussex Highways’ two cuts per year, at no cost to the Town Council.

Option B – For the Town Council to pay £15,309 per year for East Sussex Highways to carry out six cuts per year, this would see an increase of around £1.60 per year on the council tax (based on a Band D property).

The Town Council will be considering these options, alongside the results of the public consultation, and making a decision at its Community Services Committee meeting on Thursday 7th December.

“The frequency and cost of urban grass cutting is a local "hot topic", with environmental and financial implications. As Chair of the Community Services Committee I welcome public input to this important debate so that Seaford Town Council can plan for 2024.” Cllr Maggie Wearmouth, Chair of Community Services Committee for Seaford Town Council.

Members of the public are invited to complete a survey which can be found on the Town Council website: https://www.seafordtowncouncil.gov.uk/public-consultations/ or by scanning the QR code below:

Image One: QR code for Seaford Town Council’s Public Consultations page

Members of the public are encouraged to share this survey with as many friends and family as possible. The survey will also be shared on the Town Council’s Facebook Page across the survey period.

Posters will be on display across town allowing residents to easily scan the QR code to access the survey from their mobile devices, and paper copies of the survey will be available in the Seaford Tourist Information Centre and The View at Seaford Head from Monday 6th November.

The survey will close at midnight on Sunday 26th November 2023, and the Community Services Committee will be presented the results for consideration when making its decision on Thursday 7th December.

Should any members of the public have any further questions outside of this survey regarding grass verge cutting, including any concerns about grass verges that are considered to be dangerous and/or obstructing a driver’s view, please contact East Sussex Highways here - https://live.eastsussexhighways.com/services/contact-us