In a press release yesterday (17th December 2007), Greenbelt Group announced that having listened to it’s customers, it had revised its policies with regards to Open Area Maintenance, and could now offer a number of options to permit homeowners to self-manage the open areas on their developments.

The press release can be read in full here:

http://www.greenbeltgroup.co.uk/press/16

and details of the various options can be viewed here (needs Adbobe PDF viewer):

http://www.greenbeltgroup.co.uk/mediaLibrary/images/english/2338.pdf

This is a major step forward for residents in Kintore, and assuming there are no hurdles with the detail in the small print, will permit residents to appoint their own land managers (most likely Aberdeenshire Council) with quality standards and prices agreeable to all residents.

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I am pleased to report that as of yesterday evening, it is now possible to travel the whole length of Hallforest Avenue - the artificial blockage between the two parts of our estate has been removed, and the final road surfacing work should be completed later today.

This should make a big difference to some people who have been forced to take a long detour going through the centre of the village and past the school, but hopefully it won’t turn the road into a rat-run.

Just days after posting an expensively produced Customer Information Pack to over 300 homes in the Kintore area (postage alone was £1.69 per copy), produced no doubt at residents expense, Greenbelt Group contractors arrived on site for a routine visit.

We should expect high standards if we believe everything in the Homeowners Folder, but these photos taken shortly after the contractors appointed by Greenbelt Group (Netherton Plan Hire, based in Ellon) left tell the true story.

1) Unsightly and slippery clumps of rotting grass left on public footpath.

2) Nettles over 6 feet tall growing in a shrub bed!

 3) Uncollected litter in the shrub beds. Litter is supposed to be picked up on each site visit.

4) Overgrown shrub bed. The plants are obviously unsuitable for the shrub bed here, and have grown uncontrollably to dominate the shrub bed and giving it a unique “wild and unmaintained” look.

5) Very badly cut grass - woth some bits where a ride-on mower can’t easly reach being left untouched. Note the walls of the house are sprayed with the grass cuttings, and unsightly clumps of grass left to rot.

 Hundreds of more images showing the typical quality of the Open Area maintenance performed by Greenbelt Group can be found at the following website:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/407954@N24/pool/

You can see from the images taken over the past 2 years or so, that little improvement has been made of the qaulity of workmanship carried out. Please feel free to join the group and add your own photographs.