“The council decided they were going to cut it, so it stopped in mid-winter, but I don’t think anyone noticed because essentially nothing grows mid-winter here really.”
Horowhenua District councillor Sam Jennings told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB that while during consultation most residents supported the change, public opinion had since shifted.
“It’s all blown up on social media just recently, I guess because of the spring growth.”
The agenda for the October 30 council meeting included a notice of motion from councillor Ross Brannigan asking for a report to be written by council staff, outlining potential options around reinstatement of levels of service for roadside berm maintenance in the district.
At the meeting, the motion was moved by Brannigan and seconded by Paul Olsen.
With nine elected members voting in favour, the motion was carried. Councillors Jonathan Procter, Clint Grimestone, and Nina Hori Te Pa voted against. Councillor Rogan Boyle was absent.
Introducing the motion, Brannigan said he felt the decision should be reconsidered given the amount of feedback from the public.
“There are also a number of unforeseen circumstances that have arisen from this decision ... I think driving around the district you can certainly see anomalies and inequities around what we are maintaining and what we’re not.”
He said while he has seen an uptake of people mowing their own berms, anomalies existed and were having “major impacts on our district”.
The report wasn’t about advocating for full reinstatement of the service he said, but rather about having council officers bring facts and data to the table for councillors to consider.
“It is the right thing to do.”
In seconding the motion, Olsen said he acknowledged many people had started mowing the berms, but he also understood the frustration from the “older, more experienced” members of the district who were facing challenges in maintaining the berms.
“Going and seeing people one on one, there is some emotion around that, because they want to keep their section and their street tidy but they’re not physically able to.”
Mayor Bernie Wanden, who was chairing the meeting, reminded elected members the discussion wasn’t about “relitigating the berm issue”.
“It is purely a request to officers to produce a report.”
Proctor spoke against the motion, saying he didn’t think the council should reverse decisions made under the long-term plan.
It was inappropriate, he said, for council to revisit decisions, saying it showed a lack of leadership and integrity.
He said people needed to move on from the issue.
“I’m happy to see people getting out there and mowing their berms after our decision.”
Councillor Sam Jennings disagreed, saying council needed to be “mature enough” to admit when it got something wrong.
The requested report will be brought to the November 27 council meeting. It will include a summary of all feedback received by the council on the matter since the removal of the service and include investigation by council officers of potential options regarding the reinstatement of berm maintenance in the district.
