Council / Robotic graveyard lawnmowers on the go in Tingwall – with Sandwick and Mid Yell to come
ROBOTIC lawnmowers are in operation at the Tingwall graveyard – with ones in Sandwick and Mid Yell expected to start work soon.
Shetland Islands Council (SIC) is trialling the mowers in part to see if it can allow in-demand burial ground staff to attend to other jobs.
It comes amid a shortfall in staffing numbers, a maintenance backlog and an increased number of statutory surveys needing to be carried out on memorials.
News of the trial emerged last year but it has taken some time for the mowers to get on the grass.
The SIC’s environment and estate operations manager Carl Symons said are three mowers currently operating in the large Tingwall graveyard.
Mowers in Sandwick and Mid Yell have had to be “remapped” after moving to solar battery charging.
Symons said these ones will be operational in the “very near future”.
Last year there was some pushback on social media regarding trialling robotic mowers in graveyards, but Symons the mowers in Tingwall are in some respects performing “better than expected”.
He said the SIC often receives complaints about grass cuttings at the start of the season.
This is because the SIC does not collect the grass, and after the first two cuts of the year it can leave long cuttings on the ground which may look “untidy” to some people.
“The thing about the robotic mowers is if they work the way they’re supposed to, after the first cut they keep it so well trimmed that the mulching that arises from the cut is quite fine, so it all blends in and it looks a lot neater,” Symons said.
“Purely because they’re being cut far more frequently as our own staff ever do.”
A report to councillors previously said mowers would be programmed to suit the conditions of the location and be in consideration of service users – with the equipment potentially operating in the night.
It added that the mower would be programmed to avoid floral or memorial tributes, and that they would not be in operation during funerals.
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