Liberal MLA Nicole Lawder, Shadow Minister for City Services, called today for the ACT Government to update the mowing plan to respond to changing weather patterns and improve road visibility.
Her motion stated that overgrown grass poses a significant fire hazard, can reduce driver visibility, and increases the risk of snake encounters, particularly as Canberra experiences warmer weather.
“This issue is raised every year and it’s time that the Labor-Greens Government start providing the essential services Canberrans need,” Ms Lawder said.
Chris Steel, ACT Minister for City Services, explained that La Niña’s wet weather made it impossible to mow.
Ms Lawder’s motion notes that Canberra experienced its wettest winter in five years – more than 215 millimetres of rain were recorded at the Canberra Airport – but the recent ACT lockdown period delayed the scheduled start of the annual mowing program.
READ MORE: Lockdown mowing to focus on ‘priority areas’
Ms Lawder’s motion calls on the ACT Government to provide more funding this financial year to ensure mowing can be completed in a timely and efficient manner, and investigate how to improve the mowing program so that residents aren’t concerned about overgrown grass in their neighbourhoods each year.
“The City Services crew does a great job, but they need to be better supported by this government, and require an increased mowing fleet,” her petition states. “The ACT Government has told residents for years to be patient and understanding regarding overgrown grass rather than adequately investing in mowing resources.”
It noted that in the 2019-20 financial year, residents had lodged 8,177 Fix My Street requests relating to “grass, trees and shrubs”.
“On wet days, it’s impossible to mow,” Mr Steel said. “It damages the equipment; it creates a safety issue for drivers; and it also churns up the ground. So when it’s too wet to mow, it means that we do lose days in our mowing calendar.”
At this stage, Mr Steel said, the ACT Government was two weeks behind its mowing schedule. As a priority, arterial roads would be mown to maintain lines of sight.
“That may mean that some of the amenity type mowing has to be put on the back burner for a week or two,” Mr Steel said. “We’ll continue to look at what we can do in relation to resourcing mowing. We’ve got contractors out there; we’ve got our own in-house mowing crews out there doing an incredible amount of work – but on rainy days, it’s simply too wet to mow.”
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
