In the coming year, Eynsham Parish Council will establish a grounds maintenance team, recruiting additional staff to join Dan, who currently works as our maintenance operative.
Having our own in-house team will helps us to reduce costs by removing the need to contract the necessary work to others, but will also allow us to handle the maintenance of our local, green spaces more quickly and efficiently.
The countryside, parks, meadows and wildlife of Eynsham are some of the reasons our parish is so beloved. We take seriously our responsibility to preserve, protect and improve the natural environment of the parish, and to that end we have plans to purchase a new ‘biodiversity-boosting’ mower for the team to use.
The ‘cut and collect’ mower we will buy is critical for wildflower meadow maintenance (and the parish has a number of these) but is also convenient and very useful. It will allow us to create grass composting sites around the village and help manage the fertility of wildflower meadows, supporting the great work being done by our local Natural Recovery Network. The new mower will also help us to reduce mess and remove the cost of waste removal.
The Parish Council is making a substantial financial contribution to the cost of the mower, but our restricted Budget means we are reliant on the support of others to achieve our goal. We hope that some local organisations or businesses may share our enthusiasm for and determination to protect the local environment, and contribute towards it.
We’ve set up a crowdfunding page on SpaceHive, which outlines the benefits of the mower and provides an easy means of contributing to the cost of purchase: Eynsham Biodiversity Boosting Mower (spacehive.com)
We well understand that costs and budgets are tight for everyone currently, so any donations made are greatly appreciated. Keep an eye on our Parish Council website for updates on the mower fund and the arrival of the new mower – then you’ll see the difference around the parish in the subsequent months and years.