Parks & Countryside Service Standards Charter

The Service

The Parks & Countryside service maintains landscaped areas of Council owned parks & open spaces in Oldham. The service ensures that Council land is maintained to provide a clean, safe and attractive environment accessible to the whole community, and to provide colourful, interesting and stimulating planting schemes throughout the borough. Work is carried out under contract to standards and frequencies set by the Council.

Our Pledge to you is that we will undertake to:

  • All parks and open spaces will be kept Clean, Safe and Litter free.
  • All Work will be carried out with due care and attention for the safety of others.
  • Work will only be carried out between 7.00am and 9.00pm (except in emergencies)
  • Any mess made by persons carrying out the works will be removed when ever possible at the end of the day.
  • Regular inspections will be made to check that work is being done properly and that areas are being maintained to the agreed standards.
  • General grassed areas will be mown twice each month or when necessary during the growing season to maintain a clean and tidy appearance.
  • Meadow Areas and Wildlife areas will be managed and maintained to promote diversity.
  • Green waste materials produced during grounds maintenance operations will be recycled and composted locally wherever possible.
  • Seasonal flowerbeds will be cultivated and maintained to provide attractive spring and summer displays.
  • Woodlands will be managed to promote valuable habitat for wildlife
  • Sports pitches will be maintained to traditional Sports Turf Horticultural Standards.

Trees

We recognise that the borough’s trees are a unique and valuable asset, and we will maintain them so that they are available for residents to enjoy now and in the future.

Cemeteries

We will ensure that maintenance work in the cemeteries we manage is carried out in a manner sensitive to the needs of bereaved people.

Allotments

We manage 18 Allotments sites across the Borough. Working closely with site secretaries to promote the production of healthy local food.

Improvements

We will be making sure we respond more quickly to your concerns and complaints.

We intend to work more closely with local resident groups in improving local parks and open spaces

We will work closely with local people in the monitoring grounds maintenance standards.

We aim to extend the sponsorship scheme which helps to provide flowerbeds on local roundabouts.

Our Service Goals

We aim to improve your local environment by delivering, Clean, Safe and Well Maintained Landscapes.
We strive to respond to your needs by providing you with a diverse and broad range of accessible, high quality parks and Open Spaces that are ‘fit for purpose’.
To work as efficiently and effectively as we can
To work in true partnership both internally and externally
We promote a working environment for our staff that is supportive, develops values and identifies training needs to ensure our people are confident in what they do.

What we Do

Our Services include:

  • Horticultural Services, e.g Flower Bed Maintenance, shrub pruning and hedge cutting
  • Aboricultural Services
  • Herbicide Application
  • Sports pitch maintenance and renovation
  • Bowling Green and Tennis Court maintenance
  • Children’s Play Area maintenance and development
  • Landscape development and construction
  • Mowing and tending of grass areas

We also provide

  • 16 Rangers working across the Borough
  • 4 Visitor Centres

Service Scale
The following Statistics are an indication of our service scale and diversity
We maintain over 8 million square metres of grass  (800 hectares per cycle)
We maintain over 141 sports pitches per week
We maintain over 181 Hectares of trees in parks and on public highways
We maintain over 100 Children’s playgrounds to nationally recognised safety standards

We also manage and maintain the following number of sites

22 Formal Parks
4 Country Parks
141 Sports Pitches
27 Bowling Greens

7 Cemeteries
8 War Memorials
102 School Grounds
14,805 Hectares of recreational greenspace

Service Target

In order that we can monitor our own performance we have set ourselves a number of challenging targets to deliver. The targets that have been set also influence how we prioritise our services, promote continuous improvement in relation to service performance and help in benchmarking our service and performance against that of other local authorities.

We aim to achieve a customer satisfaction rating of 90%
We will be courteous and helpful at all times - target 95% satisfaction
We will keep shrub beds 90% free of weeds
Amenity grass will be cut to a height of 25-40 mm (between April and October)
We will sweep 90% of Grass cuttings from pathways within the same day
We will respond to dangerous trees within 1 day of notification
We will inspect children’s equipped play areas on a daily basis
We will empty Dog Bins On a weekly basis
We will collect litter prior to mowing
We will work towards the Nationally recognised Green flag Standard across the Borough’s Parks & Open Spaces

You can help by

  • Informing the Council of any overgrown trees or shrubbery in public areas.
  • Not driving your car onto grass verges
  • Not putting stones or boulders on the verges to prevent inconsiderate parking
  • Not parking on grass verges
  • Not storing caravans, boats or trailers on the verge
  • Not having skips or building materials delivered and placed on the verge.
  • Not Dropping Litter
  • Not allowing your dog to foul on public open space

If you wish to maintain the verge outside your property either by planting or grass cutting it is advisable to seek our permission first, for further details please contact 0161 770 4056

Grass Cutting is carried out to

  • Control brushwood and scrub
  • Reduce the risk of fire
  • Prevent the loss of width to paved surfaces
  • Prevent the spread of noxious weeds (the weeds act 1959)
  • To Promote a Clean and tidy appearance for the people who live work and visit the Borough.

Your right to equal treatment

Every resident, whatever their circumstances, is entitled to equal access to all Council services. We recognise that the Borough is made up of people with a wide range of abilities, backgrounds and lifestyles. You have the right to receive services sensitive to your needs.

Your right to complain

Things can go wrong. We can make mistakes. We can fail to provide the service you require.
If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received or the way you have been treated, we want to know. Complaints help us to improve the service we provide.
It is best to try and settle the complaint directly with the staff responsible, and at the time you are unhappy with the service offered or given.
If you are not satisfied with the response then you may wish to make a formal complaint. In this case you should write to the Director of Environmental Services, or Email glenhogkiss@oldham.gov.uk
All written complaints will be acknowledged within seven working days and responded to within 15 working days.

Further information

For further information please write to
Mr Steve Smith
Parks Manager
Alexandra Park
Oldham
OL8 2BN

Oldham Borough Council

Frequently Asked Questions:
Question How do I get an Allotment?

Answer The allotments in Oldham are very popular. If you would like the opportunity to go on the waiting list contact 0161 770 4056, and request the list of allotment site secretaries. 

Question How often are Highway Trees pruned?

Answer We carry out regular highway tree inspections and have a planned maintenance programme for all trees.