26/05/2026
I have seen a few posts recently about grass cutting, including comments suggesting that Seaton Valley Council has cut grass cutting services. This is not true.
Grass cutting is and has always been the responsibility of Northumberland County Council. SVC has always paid money to NCC as part of a partnership and we continue to do so. However, when I was elected Chair in May 2025, along with other Conservative councillors in Seaton Valley, we had to take a long look at the finances after years of Labour contol.
What we discovered was that the partnership agreement with NCC was extremely vague and offered no protection if services we not provided. SVC was paying ยฃ250,000 (a third of our income) for enhanced grass cutting which should have meant 16 to 20 cuts each year. We reviewed the data and found that only 13 or 14 cuts were being delivered, in line with NCCs core service. NCC were not able to refund any of the money paid despite not meeting the agreed number of cuts. We therefore made the decision to divert ยฃ170,000 to other services where we could get better value for money.
We also negotiated a new floral planting contract with NCC which picked up some elements of the partnership.
Any reduction in grass cutting is down to NCC and not Seaton Valley Council.
