26 October 2021

With grass now growing at a fast clip, we’ve had some enquiries from residents about the state of some town berms. Some of them are looking a little scruffy.  

In the past, the Council has been in charge of mowing berms in urban areas.  

But this year, as part of the setting of the 2021-2031 Long Term Plan, the Council considered feedback from the public which indicated they would prefer the Council keep their rates down by not spending the money in this area.  

We found by looking at data from City Care which manages this contract, that about 70 per cent of berms were already being mowed by property owners themselves. 

Ending urban berm mowing will save ratepayers at least $110,000 a year from this year onwards. 

So as from 1 July 2021, we’re handing the baton to residents when it comes to keeping the grass on the kerbs outside their houses tidy.  

The Council continues to mow in areas where the speed limit is 70 km/hr inside urban areas.  

Waka Kotahi is responsible for rural parts of the state highway. Berms along other rural roads continue to be the property owner’s responsibility. 

NOTE:  The other decisions accepted in the Long Term Plan were: 

• Accepting the more affordable packagefor water and wastewater renewals. 
• Keeping Greytown’s recycling centre open 
• Increasing the budget for new town footpaths by $400,000 a year  
• Developing a new Greytown play space – The development of a new play space on the corner of Cotter and Pierce streets 
• Suspending funding for rural road seal extensions that are non-safety related. 

Source:  https://swdc.govt.nz/wp-content/uploads/LTP-2021-2031-final-12July21.pdf

ENDS