Council urged to mow the grass

GUMBOOT HEIGHT: Shorter now, but grass on this Maungatapu neighbourhood reserve was allowed to grow so long that it topped this resident's gumboots last week. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Grass is being allowed to grow so long on Tauranga's community reserves that children are unable to kick balls around any more.

Springtime growth has caught up with the city council's cost-cutting measure to allow grass to reach up to 200mm before it got mown - triple the old height.

It has led to an explosion of complaints including two petitions from residents neighbouring Pyes Pa's Condor Reserve and Papamoa's Topaz Reserve.

Residents accustomed to seeing tidy reserves and not having to experience grass brushing against their calves have questioned the value of saving $90,000 from the $2.1 million lawnmowing budget.

Mayor Stuart Crosby has been sent photos of grass so long on Condor Reserve that children could not even kick a ball through it. "Having it that long is pretty silly."

He opposed the council's decision earlier this year to cut back the frequency of mowing, saying the way the city looked was important. The council could reverse the decision in the New Year if the $90,000 was able to be recovered from other budgets, he said.

Council staff have received 14 written complaints, two petitions and a number of phone calls. Mr Crosby has received another complaint from residents of Bethlehem's Beaumaris Boulevard and Councillors Bill Grainger and Kelvin Clout have heard from people concerned with two reserves in Maungatapu.

Ebbtide Way resident Ben Friskney was disappointed that the grass on Maungatapu Peninsula Esplanade had been allowed to grow higher than his gumboots before it was cut about a week ago.

In one reserve, it got so long that the neighbourhood's 12 children were unable to play, with balls getting lost or unable to roll across the grass.

He said the land was taken by the council for the community to enjoy but now people could not enjoy it because the grass was getting too long. It was all about enjoyment of the reserve and their quality of life.

"If you own property you need to behave like a good neighbour," he said.

Stewart Boys, who lives beside Maungatapu's Anchorage Grove Reserve, said the grass was allowed to reach the height of a small dog and the area was being shunned by children.

He did not believe that the savings were worth the impact that less frequent lawn mowing was having on reserves.