Maintaining our green spaces

The maintenance policy will ensure that green spaces across the borough are maintained to a consistent standard, and so that we can support biodiversity and reduce the impact of maintenance on the environment.

As a local council, we are experiencing ‘a perfect storm’ of soaring costs, rising demand, significantly reduced funding from national government, and uncertainty about national decisions and policy.

This means we must continue to look at how we increase income and reduce spending, so that we can protect essential services for those residents most in need.

We identified more than 400 green spaces across the borough which we had been maintaining but are not registered as owning.

We have stopped maintaining sites where the council is not registered as the owner.

We no longer maintain sites where the council is not the registered owner of the land and it is also not considered to be required for the safe operation of the public highway.

If you want to buy land which has previously been used and maintained as green space, open space, park land, highway verge or highway visibility splay – or any other civic or publicly maintained land or land with designated use – we advise you to proceed cautiously.

You should seek professional and independent planning, surveying, and legal advice about the true value of the land, and whether it can be used for any other purpose or be built on. You should also seek advice about whether it is likely you would be able to get planning permission for any plans you may have for the land.

If you choose not to seek advice and do purchase the land, you may find that you have paid more than the land’s true value, that you cannot use it for the purpose you had intended and could also find that you now hold a land liability and have a requirement to maintain it, including any trees that are on it.

You may also be responsible for any health and safety issues related to keeping the land open to the public and from a highway visibility splay perspective, and you could also find that there are statutory utilities running under it.

As a result, if you try to sell the land at a later date, you may find that you are unable to find a buyer.

If a footpath is not classified as a Public Right of Way, the council does not have a maintenance obligation which would otherwise override the ownership position of the land. It means it cannot simply ‘choose’ to maintain the land.

This is the case for a large number of informal footpath networks across the borough.

Apply for third party green spaces maintenance

3rd parties must have a minimum of £1 million public liability insurance to cover the maintenance activities.

Activities

Activities not permitted

The following activities are not permitted under this agreement;

• Any works to existing trees including but not limited to felling, pruning or crown lifting – these will continue to be undertaken by Cheshire East Council
• Installation of hard / paved surfacing
• Installation of any cabin, container or other similar structure
• Installation of street furniture (for example, benches, bins or bollards)
• Installation of fixed play, sports or outdoor gym equipment
• Installation of signage
• Installation of any utilities or services including lighting of the site
• Erection of fencing, hedging or other forms of boundary treatment to prevent access to or restrict movement around the site
• Any excavation deeper than 300mm below existing ground levels
• Any creation of water features and / or alterations to existing watercourses

Certain activities in the list above may be permitted at specific sites. You will need to apply in advance for further consents for these activities by emailing EnvironmentalCommissioning@cheshireeast.gov.uk.