Grounds maintenance

What the buyer is asking for

Cottenham Parish Council is seeking a suitably experienced and reliable contractor to provide grounds maintenance, grass cutting and general village maintenance services throughout Cottenham, Cambridgeshire. The contract will include routine grass cutting across designated areas of the village, including specialist cutting regimes for ecological and biodiversity areas, and comprehensive grounds maintenance at Cottenham Recreation Ground. The Recreation Ground accommodates seasonal football and cricket pitches, children's playgrounds, a skatepark and a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA). It is also home to Cottenham Village Hall, the sports pavilion, a pre-school and a nursery facility. The contractor will be responsible for maintaining sports pitches to the standards required by the Parish Council, local sports clubs and their respective governing bodies. Works will include regular grass cutting, football pitch line marking, cricket outfield maintenance, seasonal pitch preparation and other associated maintenance. Experience of PitchPower assessments and implementing the resulting maintenance recommendations would be advantageous. General village maintenance will include emptying designated public refuse bins, litter picking, cleaning bus shelters and noticeboards, and maintaining designated verges, green spaces and other public areas. The contract may also include seasonal maintenance, weed control and other routine environmental tasks specified by the Parish Council. The successful contractor will be expected to: Deliver services in accordance with agreed schedules, seasonal requirements and specified maintenance standards. Apply appropriate maintenance regimes to sports pitches, amenity grassland and ecological areas, supporting biodiversity while maintaining safe, accessible and attractive public spaces. Plan works around sporting fixtures, facility bookings and community activities, minimising disruption to users and visitors. Provide suitably trained and competent staff, appropriate machinery, equipment and materials. Comply with relevant health and safety legislation, risk assessments, safe working practices, environmental requirements and waste disposal regulations. Maintain effective communication with the Parish Council and promptly report defects, hazards, vandalism or other issues identified during site visits. Maintain accurate records of completed works and report any incidents or work that cannot be completed as scheduled. Demonstrate reliability, flexibility, value for money and a proactive approach to maintaining public spaces. The contract requires a high standard of workmanship, effective seasonal planning and a responsive service that meets the needs of the Parish Council, sports clubs, community facilities and residents. Detailed specifications, site locations, work frequencies and required service standards will be provided in the tender documentation.

How this is scored

Published by the buyer. A winning response is written to these weightings, not to the question.

• 60%qualityQualityQuality, of which: 60% References 20% Staff and general staff experience 10% Method Statements 5% Adequate Public Liability insurance held and confirmation that your insurance is still valid? 10% Have you or your staff undertaken any general and/or safety training or certification for working in this field of work? 10% Equalities Policies 5%
• 40%costCostCost (based on an estimate of the likely work over the 1 year term) 40%

3 lots

You can usually bid for one lot without bidding for all of them.

• Recreation Ground£37k

  Mowing - Football pitches, cricket outfield playgrounds and other grassed public areas at the recreation ground (with the exception of the MUGA BNG Grassland) Football line marking Cricket Square - Cutting, watering (as required), spiking (as required), marking, rolling Seasonal maintenance for football and Cricket square Play areas and skatepark - Grass cutting and strimming around equipment as required + monthly safety check of equipment General recreation ground maintenance The main sports facility is currently divided into three distinct areas, Fields 1-3 (F1-3). • F1 has the primary adult 11v11 football pitch • F2 has 11v11 and 9v9 football pitches, football training area, cricket square and field • F3 has 11v11, small 11v11, 9v9, 7v7 and 5v5 football pitches

• Grass cutting£10k

  Fortnightly cutting to six sites around the village with some areas to remain uncut during May ("No Mow May"). In addition there are 5 'specialist' sites with their own regime as detailed in the tender document.

• Village Maintenance£8k

  CPC is responsible for several open spaces around the village, both formally planted and not planted, which require regular maintenance. - War Memorial - weeding and maintenance as required (minimum twice per year) - Village Sign - weeding and maintenance - Council noticeboards (6), cleaning, inspection and light maintenance - The Pound (car park) - hedge cutting, removal and suppression of weeds & other obstructing vegetation - Refuse Bin emptying - Recreation Ground & Lambs Lane - Litter picking - Recreation Ground - Bus shelter cleaning - Footpath planters/ tubs - weeding and general maintenance. Watering to be carried out if required or during extreme weather

How contested is this?

Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 119 comparable procurements we can tell you the typical field size, how often one of these goes uncontested, and whether the buyer awards on price or on quality.

Timeline

3 published dates · Europe/London

1. Tender notice published9 days ago

   28 Oct 2026, 14:19 GMT
2. Submission deadlinein 10 days

   16 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
3. Award decision expected byin 26 days

   2 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT

Commercial outcome and contract awards

Nothing awarded yet

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender

1. Tender notice17 Oct 2026, 10:35 BST098227-2026
2. Tender updated28 Oct 2026, 14:19 GMT102144-2026

Documents

• biddingDocuments
• biddingDocuments
• biddingDocuments
• Map showing locations of planters
• Management plan detailing habitat management for the New Life on the Old West ponds. Location - Broad Lane.
• Tender notice on Find a Tender