At a meeting on 18th March 2024, Buckingham Town Council came to the regrettable conclusion that it was unable to renew the devolved services contract with Buckinghamshire Highways (Buckinghamshire Council).
The contract involved the Town Council effectively working as Buckinghamshire’s contractor and covered grass cutting of verges, hedge cutting, issuing hedge cutting notices, clearing vegetation from rights of way, weed spraying, and various other matters.
The amount that the Town Council would be paid for this contract was not confirmed by Buckinghamshire Council until the 13th March. This left just a few days to decide whether the terms and payment offered would make it viable for the Town Council to continue working on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as it would cost the Town Council substantially more to provide the service to an appropriate standard than was being offered in payment by the contract. The Town Council ultimately voted not to renew the devolved services contract in the 2024/2025 year.
This means that from 1st April 2024, responsibility for verge grass cutting, hedges, weed spraying etc reverts to Buckinghamshire Council who are the statutory body in charge of the maintenance of these areas. Buckingham Town Council will continue to maintain its own parks and green spaces, including Chandos Park, Bourton Park and the Cemetery to its usual high standards.
Any questions regarding verges, hedges, trees, weed spraying, rights of way etc should be directed to Buckinghamshire Council. However, if you are unsure, the Town Council is always happy to help direct your enquiry to the appropriate Council.
Cllr. Anja Schaefer, Buckingham Town Mayor, said that “This was not a decision taken lightly by the town council. However, after a thorough discussion of the matter, the council decided by a large majority that we could not continue doing this work for Buckinghamshire Council at a loss, thereby effectively asking the people of Buckingham to pay for it twice. The Town Council has no expectation of making a profit from devolved services, but we do need to get close to breaking even.”
