MEMBERS of Bridgend County Borough Council have backed a motion to work more closely with local town and community councils when it comes to certain tasks such as grass cutting in the future.
The motion was put forward by Councillor Martin Williams of Coity Higher at a full council meeting held in July, 2025, following issues that were seen earlier in the year with delays in grass cutting around Bridgend county.
This came as a result of delays in recruitment for the authority’s new in-house service which was first approved by members in 2024, as opposed to outsourcing the work to a private contractor as they had done since 2015.
The move had led to backlash from some Bridgend residents who said grass had been left to grow up to knee height in some parts of the borough with the council’s leader previously describing it as an issue he “couldn’t go a day without mentioning”.
The service began work to tackle the grass cutting backlog in June of 2025, though Cllr Williams said in the future he would like to work with and even pay community councils that were able to help with the grass cutting schedule if the issues were seen again.
He said: “Under the ethos of working collaboratively we therefore resolve to ask the cabinet to consider contacting all town and community councils at the earliest opportunity, and offer to pay them to carry out the service in their area, to support this authority if they are willing and able should future challenges to the service be encountered again.”
In response, the council’s Labour leader Cllr John Spanswick of Brackla West Central said he supported the motion and would take it away to consider.
He added that there could also be other areas where the local authority could work more closely with town and community councils in the future.
Additionally, he noted that BCBC was currently recruiting a dedicated town and community council liaison officer, with the deadline for applications having recently closed.
The motion to reach out to town and community councils across Bridgend was later backed unanimously by members in attendance.
