News Release

Councillors support motion to put pressure on Greenbelt Group

20th February 2009

Aberdeenshire Council will write to all major house builders in Aberdeenshire following complaints about landscape managers, Greenbelt Group Limited.

The company is a land-management business which takes ownership of open spaces and strategic landscaping from developers then charges a fee to homeowners for maintenance.

A meeting of the full council unanimously supported a motion by Westhill and District Councillor Amanda Allan, put forward after a number of complaints about poor performance on Greenbelt’s part from constituents.

Other councillors in Aberdeenshire have also received complaints from residents of housing estates where green spaces are managed by the company, the meeting heard. 

Councillor Allan told the council the problem is that the company’s name is written into the title deeds of houses, so that they cannot be sacked if they are not fulfilling their obligations.

Homeowners would need to take legal action and if they decide not to pay because they have not received the service they expect, they could face legal action themselves, she explained.

Councillor Allan said: “Most of the homeowners would actually be satisfied with this arrangement if the Greenbelt Group fulfilled their side of the bargain, but frequently this is far from the case.

“In my ward alone, the town of Westhill has three estates affected by poor maintenance of open spaces which are managed by Greenbelt Group Limited.

“One of the estates was built eleven years ago and has been plagued with problems ever since. One resident even said they almost lost their children in the long grass that had not been cut for months.”

She said there have also been problems in towns all over Aberdeenshire, including Ellon, Laurencekirk, Kintore, Oldmeldrum and Newmachar, where East Garioch Councillor Fergus Hood tried to get Greenbelt to clear an overgrown area before finally cutting it himself.

Councillor Allan’s successful motion means that the council will:

• Write to local developers to ask them to reconsider and discuss options with the council if they are planning to transfer ownership or management of open space within their developments to Greenbelt Group Limited
• To halt the process, if they have already intimated that the open spaces within their developments are to be transferred or managed by the company, and to discuss options with the council and residents of these developments

Aberdeenshire Council will also write to Greenbelt Group Limited to ask them to make sure they are providing the service required of them by homeowners in the developments where they are in control of open spaces.

The authority’s directors of Planning and Environmental Services and Transportation and Infrastructure Services have also been asked to prepare a report to the Infrastructure Services Committee, looking at the provision of landscape management as a whole in Aberdeenshire.

In the past, house developers paid money to the council to cover the maintenance of strategic landscaping within a development in perpetuity.

This used to be calculated at ten years maintenance for the area, but as costs went up and interest rates went down, the council had to raise this to 15 years maintenance cost, stated councillor Allan’s motion.

“Many developers decided they didn’t want to pay the council that much money, so they looked for new ways of maintaining the open spaces they had to provide within their housing estates,” said Councillor Allan.

“Many people have asked me ‘can the council not take over the landscaping?’ Not unless the bond is paid. ‘Can we not just pay the council ourselves’, say the residents. No, Greenbelt Group Ltd is in the title deeds and hold title to the land.

“And the council has no legal authority to stop developers choosing this option, although it is the preferred policy of the council for the land to be transferred to us.

“House builders charge two, three, four hundred thousand pounds for the properties they build, for many that is a dream come true, to own a new home just how they want it, and they are being let down by this system.”

She urged developers to reconsider ever using the company in future, claiming they consistently failed in their promises and urged Greenbelt to “raise its game”.

 

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