Response to Eric Brooker, from the Prices Lodge Residents Association.

We have previously received complaints from Mr Brooker about the way that the estate is being maintained, and we have explained ourselves to him. Despite this Mr Brooker has seen fit to deliver a letter to everyone else on the estate, and we are therefore responding in kind.

• Mr Brooker’s main complaint seems to be that Amazon, the landscape contractors, have not been cutting the grass as often as was originally specified.

  
  

It is true that at the top of the estate next to Park Lane the gardeners have been asked not to cut it as often, as the grass there does not grow well and excessive cutting would do more harm than good. For the rest of the estate the primary requirement is that the grass is kept to a reasonable length: if it isn’t growing too fast then there is no reason to cut it more often. Mr Brooker’s final paragraph seems to suggest that he agrees with us on this point.

• Mr Brooker feels that the estate should be refunded money because the grass is not cut as often, and that Amazon should bill us for the hours of work rather than a fixed annual fee.

This would be a cure worse than the disease. If Amazon could bill us more simply by sending people around more often then they would untoubtedly do so. The costs would increase but the estate would be in no better condition. That is why contracts like this are always done for a fixed price. Amazon will know better than us how often the grass needs to be mowed to keep it to a reasonable length, and will doubtless have factored that into their bid.

• Mr Brooker objects to leaf blowers being used. However if leaves are left to rot on damp turf then they kill the grass, leaving bare patches. So blowing the leaves off the grass is simply the best practice.

  
  

• Fareham Borough Council do not cut the grass on the estate, and we do not know what makes Mr Brooker think that they do. Perhaps Amazon also do work for FBC and then used FBC vis-vests while working on the estate.

  
  

• Mr Brooker complains that the estate was “abandoned” by the PLRA committee after Mr Light stopped work.

That is simply not true. We originally selected Mr Light (via Eddisons) as the cheapest bidder, but after he got the contract he complained that he was unable to do it and demanded more money. So we got rid of him and put the work out to contract again. We again hired the cheapest bidder, but their heavy hedge cutter got bogged down and wouldn’t fit underneath the trees to the north of the path down to Harrison Road. So we had to get rid of them too (without paying anything, I should add). After that we obtained advice from someone in the trade about how to write a specification for the work, and once we had written it we put it out to tender through Eddisons for a third time. This time rather than selecting the cheapest bidder we took advice from Eddisons and selected Amazon, who have done work for them before.

Each time around this loop took time to solicit bids, evaluate them in consultation with Eddisons, appoint a contractor, and for them to start work. Hence it was indeed several months from the point that Mr Light stopped work to Amazon starting work, but this was not due to lack of effort by the committee.

A large factor in the cost of the bids has been the need to get the hedges around the estate under control, and to prevent the encroachment of brambles and undergrowth on the perimeter. Mr Brooker does not consider this, but it requires substantially more effort than merely mowing the grass, and we have been pleased with the work done by Amazon.

• The encroachment around the perimeter has been stopped, and even pushed back in some areas.

• We no longer have the mohican hedges with uncut growth where the gardeners can’t reach.

• The undergrowth around the North Copse has been considerably thinned, making it much less attractive to drug users.

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Much of this work, including writing the specification and reviewing the bids, has been undertaken by the PLRA committee. Mr Brooker is not a member of the association, still less the committee, and has not been involved in any of this work. Despite this he feels entitled to complain because things are not being done his way, and he is sure that he could do better. We respectfully disagree.