After growing concern of fire safety, the Dunedin City Council sent a contractor to groom the unsightly and weed-sting grass verges in Canongate yesterday.
However, Alison Beck, a Canongate resident of 20 years, said it was a waste of ratepayers’ money and resources.
She said it would be a better idea for the council to continue the Canongate community’s work planting native vegetation in place of the grass that had almost reached 1m high and had the potential to engulf children and small dogs.
When she heard the sound of weed whackers at 7am yesterday she ran outside to save the native plants, which had been chopped down with the grass in the past.
‘‘I’m really worried that they’re in there . . . chopping all the planting we’ve done.’’
The council had recently allocated $900,000 for vegetation management in its draft roading and footpaths budget.
Ms Beck said it was a waste of resources sending people with weed whackers to maintain grassy areas around the city.
‘‘It would be far better to just do a massive working bee and plant these areas out for ground cover.
‘‘That stops the grass growing and it beautifies the area, increases diversity, brings back native species and will cost the ratepayer a whole lot less in maintenance and upkeep.’’
She said the council was going backwards ecologically and fiscally.
‘‘It just doesn’t make sense to me for ratepayers to be paying for a huge swathe of land to be weed whacked poorly, intermittently, and it’s a s . . . job.’’
A similar job had also been done in other places around the city, including Corrie St in the Town Belt.
A council spokeswoman said vegetation management staff were currently implementing the ‘‘metre-strip’’ method to cut long growth around paths and walkways.
The next round of maintenance would involve cutting all areas of long growth.
‘‘Our current focus is on maintaining vegetation in parts of our network that prioritise the safety of road users and pedestrians.’’
He said the council had reduced its cosmetic vegetation maintenance programme in other areas to offset increasing costs and focus our spend on providing a safe transport network.
The council would continue to inspect vegetation to assess risk.
The public was welcome to file a ‘‘Fix it’’ report if they thought an area was becoming hazardous.
‘‘We will assess each request and either take any necessary steps or advise when the area is next scheduled for maintenance.’’
The council’s draft nine-year plan, which includes funding to increase vegetation maintenance, will take effect from July 2025, if ratified.
