Grass cutting
We balance the need to keep the highway safe with being sensitive to local ecology and wildlife.
We limit the amount of grass-cutting we do. Still, we need to maintain visibility at junctions, ensure road and pavement widths are not reduced, and provide a refuge on the highway verge for pedestrians in rural areas where pavements aren’t present.
Our seasonal cutting programme does not currently remove grass clippings.
Areas we cut
In urban areas, we work with district, borough and parish councils to undertake a minimum of 3 cuts per year of the highway verge. Some district, borough and parish councils supplement these safety cuts with amenity cuts to keep things tidy.
In rural areas, we carry out 3 cuts per year on rural roads to the first 1.1m width (from the edge of the road), which is the standard width of the blade on the tractors, on:
- areas providing visibility at junctions and bends
- a strip on either side of footways where possible within the highway.
Verges are often wider than 1.1m, and vegetation beyond this point remains left mainly for wildlife.
Our equipment is not able to cut very narrow verges due to the size of the machinery we use.
View our grass cutting programme.