Overgrown Estate

stwome01

Hi,

I live in a very small estate (12 houses) close to Blarney, Cork. The estate has got very overgrown. I am looking to bring somebody in to give a "once over" but funds are limited. Grass cut, scrub bed weeding etc. I am hoping that once the residents in the estate see the etate in order that they be more likely to contribute to its upkeep. Has anybody any recommendations or suggestions.

Thanks,
Seán.

chainsawman

stwome01 wrote: »

Hi,

I live in a very small estate (12 houses) close to Blarney, Cork. The estate has got very overgrown. I am looking to bring somebody in to give a "once over" but funds are limited. Grass cut, scrub bed weeding etc. I am hoping that once the residents in the estate see the etate in order that they be more likely to contribute to its upkeep. Has anybody any recommendations or suggestions.

Thanks,
Seán.

12 Houses ? Ask every house owners to have a small meeting about Everything concerned within the estate. Crime prevention should be included , And ask them what they think about overgrown, Then you will get interested people making ideas.. In my area, there are 200 houses i think, we pay €35 a year to keep our area tidy and grass mowed every 2/3 weeks in the summer...

stwome01

chainsawman wrote: »

12 Houses ? Ask every house owners to have a small meeting about Everything concerned within the estate. Crime prevention should be included , And ask them what they think about overgrown, Then you will get interested people making ideas.. In my area, there are 200 houses i think, we pay €35 a year to keep our area tidy and grass mowed every 2/3 weeks in the summer...

Thanks for the reply. I think my main concerns are that with only 12 houses (possible only 9-10 willing to pay for the maintanence) will it be very expensive for the upkeep of the estate. Also I'm new to the area so I don't know the people in the area. So I'm not sure how to go about finding somebody to do the estate.

Tom Joad

First thing you need to do is to get everybody together and have a meeting as previous poster said.

12 houses isn't a lot so it will work out pricey enough - esp if you factor in that 3-4 houses will contribute nothing and will not care!!

You have three options really.

1. hire somebody in to do the upkeep - can garauntee you that someone in the estate will know someone to do it - would still get three quotes though (pros of this is that the job will be done right and won't eat into your time - but cons are that it can be expensive.

2. Everybody takes out their own lawnmowers and strimmers and does there own bit. (pros is that it is cheap and if people get out together of an evening can be a great way to chat and get to know the neighbours, cons is that after a while it will be same few people doing it all the time and over time they will lose interest and estate will get overgrown fairly quickly).

3. Buy a cheap second hand ride on between the houses and draw up a rota for cutting the estate. (pros - cheaper, cons - who stores it, services it etc).


Best thing is to organise a meeting with an agenda and see how it goes.

Best of luck with it.

chainsawman

stwome01 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I think my main concerns are that with only 12 houses (possible only 9-10 willing to pay for the maintanence) will it be very expensive for the upkeep of the estate. Also I'm new to the area so I don't know the people in the area. So I'm not sure how to go about finding somebody to do the estate.

Only 12 house in the estate ... The area should be small enough. ? Does Estate owned by the council or privately owned ? If the council owned that estate area, they should be responsible for the area welfare... If privately owned, you gotta be brave to make a move to discuss the area welfare with one or two neighbours and try set up the area resident meeting, I am sure they will be interested...

A2LUE42

Also, look up your council website, there are grants available to help with the costs, but the amounts are based on how much you spend.

Who has previously done the work ?

Is the estate completed, or is it unfinished?

chainsawman

Tom Joad wrote: »

First thing you need to do is to get everybody together and have a meeting as previous poster said.

12 houses isn't a lot so it will work out pricey enough - esp if you factor in that 3-4 houses will contribute nothing and will not care!!

You have three options really.

1. hire somebody in to do the upkeep - can garauntee you that someone in the estate will know someone to do it - would still get three quotes though (pros of this is that the job will be done right and won't eat into your time - but cons are that it can be expensive.

2. Everybody takes out their own lawnmowers and strimmers and does there own bit. (pros is that it is cheap and if people get out together of an evening can be a great way to chat and get to know the neighbours, cons is that after a while it will be same few people doing it all the time and over time they will lose interest and estate will get overgrown fairly quickly).

3. Buy a cheap second hand ride on between the houses and draw up a rota for cutting the estate. (pros - cheaper, cons - who stores it, services it etc).


Best thing is to organise a meeting with an agenda and see how it goes.

Best of luck with it.

Could not explain any better than that.... Thanks

stwome01

Thanks for all the advise.

The estate is finished but still hasn't been handed over to the Council. The Developer cuts the grass on a very irregular basis. He use to do a lot better job of it but seem to be loosing interest now. There is still the opinion in the estate "why pay of it when the developer is doing it free".

Organising a meeting seems to be the way to go. Thanks.

magicbastarder

as a previous poster mentioned, if you don't already know, check if your estate should have been taken into care by the council.

A2LUE42

for a hand over to the council to take place you only need a majority of the residents to request this. Also, check the status of the bonds that the council have for the builder.

However in many counties, the council do not do the grass cutting and maintenance and it is up to the residents to do this.

Tom Joad

A2LUE42 wrote: »

for a hand over to the council to take place you only need a majority of the residents to request this. Also, check the status of the bonds that the council have for the builder.

However in many counties, the council do not do the grass cutting and maintenance and it is up to the residents to do this.

+1 on this. Depends on where you are but AFAIK in most counties and council grants towards cost of grass cutting etc died with the Celtic Tiger.

paddy147

The residents of Kilcoole in County Wicklow did this recently.

They got so pi55ed off with the lack of service from the county council,that all the locals banded together and they cleaned up the place,planted it and also went on to win several awards and also a tidy towns award.

People power works.:D

A2LUE42

We got grants again this year, in Co Clare. We were also eligible for Leader funding but decided against creating a park and playground because of the ongoing maintenance, security and insurance issues that would be involved in that.