Green fingered team help tidy neighbourhoods

Published by Jon Land for Salix Homes in Housing and also in Communities, Environment

Open spaces and communal gardens around Halton have been given a massive makeover after a landscaping team cut enough grass in nine months to fill 300 football pitches.

The Environmental Services team at Halton Housing Trust was only set up in April last year, but since then they’ve managed to cut nearly three million metres square metres of grass throughout Runcorn and Widnes. They are now looking for six new staff to join them.

Scott Haspell, Environmental Services Manager, said: “We’re really proud of our achievements in the neighbourhoods that we work in and we now need more staff, so we’re looking for six seasonal operatives. Our next task is to finish pruning 13,000 square metres of shrub beds before the start of the grass cutting season, so we definitely need a helping hand!”

The team is also proud of their new green waste shredder, which has saved the Trust £22,000, enabling tree shredding to be done in-house rather than contracted to an external company. Scott said: “Buying the shredder has transformed the way we work, making us more efficient and saving us a massive amount of money. We also use the shredded waste on shrub beds, which is fantastic for the environment.”

Expansion of the services provided is also in the pipeline. From April 2013 the team will bring their assisted gardening service in-house, continuing to provide assistance to customers who need it most.

If you would like to work for Halton Housing Trust as a seasonal operative, please visit our website at www.haltonhousing.org for details on how to apply.