Grass cutting

Find out about our approach to grass cutting in the borough and what you can expect to see.

The Greenspaces team is responsible for the day-to-day management and maintenance of all council-owned parks, playgrounds, allotments, cemeteries, sports pitches and countryside areas across the borough.

Grass cutting around highways

Surrey County Council (SCC) is responsible for highway maintenance (grass cutting, hedge cutting, weed spraying and treatment of noxious weeds) across the whole of the county.

• Find out about grass cutting on verges and highways (Surrey County Council)

Grass cutting on council-owned land

Our Greenspaces team work hard all year round to keep our borough’s parks and open spaces clean and attractive places to enjoy. 

Grass cutting season usually takes place between April and October. Each cutting cycle takes about six weeks and we continually cut until the end of the grass growing season.

Wet weather or unavoidable staff absences, such as illness or annual leave, can sometimes mean we have to adjust our grass cutting plans.

• Find out how we support biodiversity through our grass cutting schedule

Grass cutting on commons

Historically commons have been mown up to three times per year - the first in late April or early May, a mid-summer mow in July, and a late Summer mow in September. There are three reasons for this frequency:

• Management of vigorous vegetation. Vigorous herbaceous species such as cow parsley, plantain, and dandelion are prevented from completely taking over an area of grassland. Although all species are undeniably good for insects, they grow prolifically throughout the season and therefore will come back in between mowing times. Areas that are known to be naturally more species rich have been identified, and the mowing regimes have been adjusted to cater for this – for example, the meadows at Petridgewood Common and Earlswood Common are only mown in late summer to allow nature to develop. There are also many areas outside of the commons that are managed the same, such as New Pond Farm, Tanyard Meadows, Chipstead Downs and Nork Park, which account for large areas of the greenspaces estate.
• Recreational use. Many of the commons are also used and valued for amenity purposes such as ball games, picnics etc. Periodic mowing maintains access for such activities. Complaints about long grass preventing such activities are also made, so a balance of nature and recreation is achieved by the cutting. An example of this is the top of Redhill Common, the mowing has been reduced to only twice per year in spring and late Summer.  
• Public safety. Many of the commons are abutted by roads and properties – with long dry summers now a regular occurrence, the risk of grass fires is much higher. Periodic mowing reduces the risk of fires spreading, and again complaints are made when areas of grass are left too long.

Grass cutting on Banstead Commons

To comment on grass cutting on Banstead Commons (Banstead Downs, Park Downs, Burgh Heath or Banstead Heath), please visit the Banstead Commons Conservators' website.

Report it

You can report the following to our Greenspaces team:

• Grass cutting in our parks and open spaces
• Trees in parks, overhanging vegetation

You can report highways issues to Surrey County Council. This includes:

• Trees on the highway (SCC) 
• Grass cutting and weeds on verges (SCC)

Contact us

• Email the Greenspaces team: greenspaces@reigate-banstead.gov.uk

Grass cutting on housing estates owned by Raven Housing Trust

To comment on grass cutting on housing estates owned by Raven Housing Trust visit the Raven website.