Council lawn mowing cut back disappoints Tauranga residents.
Council lawn mowing cut back disappoints Tauranga residents.
A video of unhappy children trying to play in the long grass of their neighbourhood reserve has helped convince the Tauranga City Council to reconsider its controversial decision to save $90,000 by reducing the frequency of lawn mowing.
The video screened at today's council meeting showed Kakapo Place children makingit clear what they thought about no longer being able to kick a ball and play cricket on Pyes Pa's Condor Reserve.
"We can't play ball because the grass is too long...will you please mow the grass," one of the children said.
Parent Mark Weston said most of the grass had been allowed to grow to over 300mm, with some well above 400mm, before it was cut.
When the council contractor finally arrived, it needed two cuts lasting an hour. Mr Weston questioned whether the council was actually saving money because it normally took 20 to 30 minutes and left a much better surface to play on without so much cut grass.
The grass grew so long that one resident was unable to walk her little dog through it and it was hard to spot the droppings from other dogs, with kids coming home with droppings on their shoes. He warned the grass could become a fire hazard.
Mr Weston said Tauranga was a good place to live and the council should not always be thinking about money but to consider the environment as well.
"If you put it back to the normal cut, these guys [the children] will be appreciative," he said.
Councillor Matt Cowley said a lot of the issues he raised had been raised by council staff before the council made the decision to reduce the frequency of mowing.
Mr Weston was disappointed at the length of time it took before the council responded to their complaints about the long grass.
Councillor John Robson said they were unaware of what the impact would have been on reserves by the time the exclusions had been factored in. The exclusions included normal mowing schedules for sports fields and reserves with playgrounds.
Over 30 complaints about long grass were received by the council.
The council agreed to reconsider its mowing decision as part of the 2015-25 long-term plan "This may have an impact on the current budget allocations".
