Urban grass cutting
Urban areas are, unless determined otherwise, defined as built up locations with a 20, 30 or 40mph speed limit.
All other areas are rural.
Please note, there can be some exceptions to this.
Urban grass cutting options
Every year around October, we ask all Parish and Town Councils with urban grass which, out of the three options, they would like to take forward for the next year:
- Option 1 - Standard: Two cuts over the course of a year to be carried out by ESCC at no cost to the Parish/Town Council. Urban grass will be managed for safety purposes only.
- Option 2 – Extra cuts: Parish/Town Councils may fund an additional four cuts to be carried out by ESCC, totalling six cuts (two standard and four extra) over the course of the year. The extra 4 cuts would be funded by the Parish/Town Council.
- Option 3 – Self delivery: Parish/Town Councils take on responsibility to deliver all urban grass cutting in their area. This must include a minimum of two cuts over the course of the year. ESCC will not carry out any urban grass cutting in the area. ESCC contribute the cost of 2 cuts to the Parish/Town Council.
Please see below image displaying the urban grass cutting zones within East Sussex.
Urban grass cutting area map 2023 to 2024
Urban grass cutting schedule
How we maintain urban verges
Our grass cutting policies focused on safety and visibility for road users. Due to decreased budgets, we cannot cut grass verges for aesthetic reasons. Grass cutting decisions are always made from the point of view of road safety.
Urban verges will be cut twice per annum unless:
- The Parish or Town Council have paid for 4 additional cuts
- The Parish or Town Council is self-delivering the Urban grass cutting service. If they are self-delivering, we will not carry out any cuts.
- The verge is registered as a wildlife verge
- There are no urban verges, verges in this area would be maintained as rural
Find out who is responsible for grass cutting in your area on our grass cutting map.
We will only carry out additional cuts at junctions and sight lines where it is deemed necessary for safety reasons where visibility is reduced in between the planned two cuts.