Sam Judd: Battle of the berms

Last year Benjamin Barton planted his Pt Chev berm with corn to share with the community. Photo / Dean Purcell

I went for a walk the other day in Herne Bay. I saw one berm, out of about 50, that had not been mown. Two local women were pointing at it as they walked past in disgust.

When the next-door neighbour went out (or paid someone else) to mow their berm, it would have taken them a total of two minutes to tidy up the one next to it. But no, they were adamant about their patch only.

It made me think that I would put a wager down to say that every house on that street would either own their own lawnmower (some just for the berms), or they would pay a gardener to come and do it for them.

It makes no sense at all to have over 100 lawnmowers, being operated for under half an hour a month, all in one block. 100 skill saws, 100 drills, generally bought at cheap and low quality because they hardly ever get used. This means they are more dangerous, more likely to break down and rather than get fixed, simply get replaced because they are so cheap.

It is a better idea to have less tools that are high quality, that can be lent out or hired. This is why I like places such as Hirepool, where you know that they will fix any damage, service the tools properly and even teach customers how to use them, because it is part of their business.

I think each suburb of Auckland should have a tool library, with the inventory stored online and a small fee when you use the tools, so that it pays for the maintenance. Hey - we might even then have a good reason to interact with our neighbours! This type of interaction leads to local people with specialist skills doing jobs for people near their houses (reducing traffic and saving time) and generally happier, more connected communities.

I have spoken about this before. At my work, I count myself lucky that we share things on our street. If a neighbour needs to borrow our sander or 6-metre trailer, or if I have had a successful day out fishing, we are more than happy to share. In turn, if I need an extra carpark for an afternoon, or to borrow a concrete grinder the neighbours are more than happy to oblige.

Simply because we talk to each other even though we are busy. The other day when my neighbour knew that I was looking for a large piece of glass for a project, he knocked on my door and offered a piece to me. This saved me a big packet of money, him a big packet of hassle (having to dispose of it) and the environment because it didn't get dumped.

We help each other, that is what the often misused idea of a "community" is all about.

As I continued up the road in Herne Bay, I saw a lonely citrus tree, that someone had defiantly planted on their berm and it gave me some hope that there are people out who realise that being generous to neighbours makes everyone happier.

The fantastic folk at Grey Lynn 2030 have put some great ideas out there to beautify our berms. The tacitly explain that "Berms that are planted with suitable species support local pollination and bird life, reduce stormwater runoff and soil erosion, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Wouldn't it be great if we chose to make them all raingardens? These systems use native reeds to filter out contaminants from the stormwater system. After the initial investment of setting them up, they require very little maintenance and reduce pressure on the stormwater system, which saves money.

Does anyone out there have some great ideas for what we could do with the berms, or any unused public land for that matter? Ratepayers money around the country often goes towards mowing the grass, could they be better spent?