The Oval’s Maintenance Regime
Hey folks, did you know that the GRASS Cliftonville Community Interest Company (CIC) owns and runs The Oval Bandstand and Lawns? It’s an amazing place, spread over 4.2 acres, that includes a historic sunken amphitheatre for community events and manicured gardens as a lovely spot for locals and visitors to enjoy any time of the day!
To keep our community venue in tip-top shape, we’ve got a maintenance regime in place. Here’s a sneak peek:
- We take care of over 3 acres of lawns, ensuring the grass is perfect for families and kids to play, exercise, and soak up the breathtaking views from our clifftop location. To improve biodiversity at The Oval, in 2021 we even planted a massive wildflower meadow, which we lovingly maintain. We’ve already planted thousands of plants, including over 100 lavender plants! If you want more info on our lawn cutting policy and future plans to boost ecology at The Oval, visit our website https://theovalbandstand.co.uk/no-mow-may-a-closer-look-at-our-approach.
- To be bird-friendly, we avoid cutting hedges during their breeding season, which spans from March to August. We tackle major hedge maintenance in September, with a little tidy-up in February, just in time for the growing season. With around 270 metres of hedgerow, it’s quite a task for our small community organisation, so please bear with us as we complete this essential work in autumn and spring.
- In summer 2021, GRASS installed three dog waste bins at The Oval. They’ve become quite popular, and we empty them twice a week, even paying a company to dispose of the waste for us. Please remember, these bins are quite small as they are specifically for dog waste, not general litter. Unfortunately, some people tend to misuse them, leading to quicker filling. If you use these bins, kindly consider donating to GRASS, as maintaining them and managing waste disposal is quite costly for our not-for-profit organisation.
- For our events we have recycling facilities within the bandstand amphitheatre, but it’s currently not feasible for us to provide general litter bins on the lawns. So, we kindly ask residents and visitors to take their litter home or use the nearby council litter bins (they’re also suitable for dog waste). Unfortunately, a few folks do leave their rubbish lying around, but we’re on it! We carry out almost daily litter picks to ensure The Oval remains spick and span!
That’s just a taste of the general maintenance tasks we handle! We’re also working on a fantastic regeneration project at The Oval and organising nearly fifty community events this summer! It’s hard work, but we believe it’s worth it to provide #Cliftonville with a vibrant and well-maintained community events venue for everyone to enjoy.
So, please show your support for GRASS by joining us at our events. The profits we make from our concessions go towards all the fantastic initiatives mentioned above and so much more! Cheers to a thriving community!
