PRIVATE sponsorship has been proposed as the way to bring Addingham's grass verges up to Yorkshire in Bloom standard.

The idea of enlisting support from businesses, organisations, communities and individuals was brought up at the latest meeting of Addingham Parish Council.

Councillors are still struggling to solve the problem of poor council performance on grass cutting in the village. The grass cutting service has been heavily criticised for the past two years despite assurances from the former chief executive at City Hall that standards would improve.

One option was for the parish council to take over grass cutting themselves, but Bradford Council has refused to hand over the £9,000 it says is spent on the service every year in the village.

Parish Council chairman Gordon Campbell said he had been told that part of the £9,000 figure was to cover overheads such as staff which still had to be paid whether the work was carried out or not. The parish council would only get an as yet undisclosed proportion of the £9,000 to take over.

Richard Wixey, the director of environmental services for Bradford, has stated that the village can have extra cuts if Addingham Parish Council paid extra. But some parish councillors are not happy that council tax payers were being asked to cough up extra funds to get a proper service.

At the latest meeting of the village leaders, parish councillor Alan Jerome suggested that sponsorship for certain areas could be used to provide the extra cash.

Coun Jerome said: "We should consider sponsoring areas for grass cutting by organisations, communities and individuals. You see roundabouts that are sponsored."

Mr Wixey had promised the village 13 cuts during the growing season but councillors have argued that it isn't enough to keep the grass looking tidy, especially as the cut grass is left to mulch instead of being collected.

Coun Jerome said: "It will be insufficient - we know it will be insufficient. Thirteen cuts is every two or three weeks. It is totally inadequate for the season when the grass is growing. He (Mr Wixey) did say if we put money into it he would give us more cuts. In other words a better service."

He said that if people were willing to pay sponsorship money, the parish could negotiate with Bradford Council to get them to provide more cuts or to pick up the grass cuttings instead of leaving them behind.

Parish councillor Sheila Hamilton said that even if Bradford Council was given extra money she was not confident that the job would be carried out to an acceptable standard.

Coun Hamilton said: "I don't have confidence. We need to see what happens before we put money into it. Not six miles up the road in Skipton, they can cut their grass to a high standard. It is because they are proud of it."

Parish council chairman Gordon Campbell said that the idea of sponsorship had merit and he would be willing to discuss it with the Bradford Council chief executive.