Priory Ruins, Dudley
01384 812345 
7 - Council gardening scheme launched
Older people across North Dudley will be able to access a new council run garden maintenance scheme being launched this month by Dudley Council.
The scheme will offer garden maintenance services, such as lawn mowing, tidying of garden borders and plant and shrub care, to older people who are council tenants and are not able to manage their garden. The subsidised service will cost tenants £5.50 per hour and each household will be able to request up to two hours of gardening each month.
Age Concern Dudley, the council’s partners in delivering the scheme will manage it and employ local gardeners, who have been vetted by them.
To begin with the scheme will only be available to older tenants in the North Dudley area, which covers Sedgley, Coseley East, Gornal, Upper Gornal and Woodsetton wards. It will be trialled until spring next year. If it proves a success, the council will roll out the scheme to provide the service to older people, as well as those with disabilities, across the whole borough.
Councillor Micheal Evans, cabinet member for housing said:
“Supporting older people so that they can continue living independently, within their own homes is one of our key priorities. Our new garden maintenance scheme is one of the initiatives that will help people to achieve that. We hope that the trial scheme will prove a success and that it can, in time be extended across the borough as a whole”.
Tenants are able to request a form for gardening services through the new scheme, from Dudley Council Plus on 01384 812345.
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