Volunteers upset as grass is left to grow

Dave Blackwell, councillor and one of the volunteers who maintains St Katherine’s Churchyard, said the council had promised to cut the grass every two to three weeks.

However, the grass and weeds have now grown to such a length that some of the graves are almost hidden.

Mr Blackwell said: “The volunteers work really hard.

“The council promised they would cut the grass but haven’t.

“It doesn’t give the volunteers heart.

“It is disgusting.”

He added that the lack of grass cutting and weeding at the churchyard was part of a bigger problem on Canvey with weeds and rubbish mounting up.

Previously, Castle Point councillor Steven Cole and Canvey councillor Barry Campagna have approached the Echo with complaints about the number of weeds growing in the cracks on the roads and the general untidiness of the area.

Mr Blackwell said: “The borough is going to pieces.

“I have never seen it looking so unkept.

“I spoke to some of the council’s contractors and they said it was because they had cut the number of people in a crew from four to two, so it takes them twice as long.”

He added that there were also problems with the number of black sacks being put out that were not being collected.

He put this down to some people not being able to afford green sacks for garden waste and so they were putting it in the black bags, meaning the council then refused to take the bags. He said the rubbish was then strewn around the roads.

A Castle Point spokesman disputed that it had been six weeks until the grass had been cut.

They added: “The last cut of St Katharine’s churchyard was completed on May 25 and cutting started again on June 19, a little over three weeks ago.

“Grass cutting is undertaken by the council’s contractor Pinnacle PSG .There is no requirement in the contract to cut the churchyard every three weeks although it is agreed as an aim. The last cut was slightly outside this aim.”