Tauranga resident calls for more maintenance for cutting grass, trees and hedges
Long grass, uncut hedges and trees growing over the footpath have one resident calling Tauranga “the most unkept city in New Zealand”.
Richard Fenn, 80, lives near Elizabeth St in Tauranga and said a lack of maintenance was creating an “awful view” for people coming into the city.
“Walking aroundtown, there are lots of weeds growing up to half a metre high, coming out of kerbs and all over the place.
“I’ve been here for 21 years and it hasn’t just happened today. It’s been all the time we’ve been here, nothing’s changed.”
However, Tauranga City Council said it was dealing with complaints about long grass “as quickly as possible” and it expected to be on top of mowing soon, with additional resources being brought in to “tackle the challenge”.
Richard Fenn said there was a big tree growing over the footpath, where pedestrians had to bend down to try and get underneath it. Photo / Alex Cairns
Fenn said his main concerns were around the “visual appearance” coming into the city.
“It’s not sufficient to cut grass which is half a metre high and just leave it on the ground like a hay paddock.
“We went to Rotorua recently with lovely wide streets and everything’s clean and tidy, and lots of nice plantings … compared to our unkept city. I think a lot more should be done to keep it tidier.”
Fenn said there was a big tree growing over the footpath on Elizabeth St that pedestrians had to duck under.
“I have cut the tree back myself in the past ... but I don’t see why the council shouldn’t maintain these sorts of things better.”
He believed green spaces added on Cameron Rd would be “a disaster” and “full of weeds in no time”.
“The weeds are already growing in some of these areas.
“I think Tauranga is the most unkept city in New Zealand.”
An overgrown tree on Elizabeth St in Tauranga. Photo / Alex Cairns
Welcome Bay resident Alan Ryan also raised concerns about overgrown grass near footpaths.
The 66-year-old said he was out walking his dog on March 5 when he saw an elderly woman on a mobility scooter on the road near the intersection of Welcome Bay and Kaitemako Rds.
“I actually went and approached her and she said, ‘well, I can’t use the footpath anymore.’”
Due to the overgrown grass, the footpath was getting “narrower and narrower”, Ryan said.
He walked with her until she was off the road and safe. Ryan emailed Tauranga City Council that day about the incident and sent photos of the grass.
Ryan, who has lived in the Welcome Bay area for 30 years, said it seemed to him the council was mowing less now than it was three or four years ago and he had complained to the council three times.
“The maintenance of the fields and our street frontages ― it’s a bloody shambles.
“I used to be a lawn mowing contractor myself … and I had to work in all sorts of weather as well, and the grass grew long, but I managed to keep on top of it.”
He acknowledged there had been a lot of rain and it had been warm recently.
“If it was just a one-off, fine, but like I say, it’s been going on for bloody years and it’s just got worse.”
Overgrown grass, weeds and hedges are bothering local resident Richard Fenn. Photo / Alex Cairns
Mount Maunganui Ratepayers, Residents and Retailers Association president Michael O’Neill said locals had been weeding the roundabouts on Maunganui Rd.
“They’re that frustrated with the lack of council doing anything.”
He believed Moa Park on Oceanbeach Rd had not been mowed since “before Christmas”.
After raising it at a high level within the council, the park was mowed on Monday, he said.
In his view: “We as ratepayers have paid to get this job done and it’s not getting done.”
Maree Sanders, a shop assistant at Cash Inn on Cameron Rd, said she had worked at the store for about 11 years and had noticed the overgrown grass in many Tauranga areas, particularly Cambridge Rd.
”It’s shocking … It has got to the point where you can’t even see through the roundabout in some places.”
The grass was overgrown near the Brookfield traffic lights too, and a roundabout near Waihi and Cambridge Rds had just been done “after months”.
Tauranga City Council transport network operations manager Tony Bonetti said it had received several complaints regarding long grass across the city, which was normal in periods of “heavier than normal grass growth”.
“We understand the current situation is frustrating and we aim to deal with each complaint as quickly as possible.”
Bonetti said the council had been focused on the clean-up effort following Cyclone Gabrielle while dealing with “unprecedented seasonal growth following the wettest winter, spring, and summer in the region”.
July 2022 to January 2023 rainfall data showed the average rainfall in Tauranga City over the past roughly 50 years is about 700mm for the seven-month period.
From July 2022 to February 2023 Tauranga City recorded 1860mm of rain, more than twice the average.
“All this rain combined with warmer temperatures means the grass and weeds are growing much faster than normal. Recent bad weather has also impacted our ability to mow several reserves and green spaces as the grass has been too wet and/or the ground too waterlogged.
Bonetti said if contractors tried to mow waterlogged areas they could get stuck or rip up the grass surface.
Mowing long grass left balling and often required another mow a day or two later to tidy up. This contributed to the extra time involved in maintaining berms and green spaces.
“The good news is we expect to get back on top of the mowing soon and are working with our contractors to bring in additional resources to tackle the challenge.”
He said a spell of fine weather should see “significant improvements in reducing the backlog of mowing work across the city”.
