Wellington man fuming after pushy note from neighbours urges him to clean up his berm

The note. Photo / Twitter

A Wellington man is fuming after a neighbour dropped a note in his letter box which told him to hire a landscaper as his property was not up to a "reasonable" standard.

The letter told the man he lives in "a new, delightful and expensive area with quality roading and pavements and the most lovely landscaped frontages."

"It would be really pleasing to maintain a good standard of lawn, garden and berm care and to keep all weedy and unsightly elements and overgrowth reduced to a minimum or eliminated".

The letter goes on to say the neighbour wants to help the man with "ground control and good gardening methods" - but offers no help at all, rather telling the homeowner to Google a gardening company.

The letter also says the Upper Hutt City Council can be contacted for berm advice – the Herald did so.

Geoff Swainson, the director of asset management and operations told the Herald there is no specific policy regarding the maintenance of street berms, and in general the council does not maintain the berm outside residential properties.

The note. Photo / Twitter

"If a complaint is received and the berm is considered a fire risk we would (generally) do a cut to remove the risk (for any property where this is the case we only do it once in a year)."

Swainson says they also address drainage issues – if these become problematic.

The man who received the letter posted it on social media, fuming at the fact the sender had not put their name to it.

"The absolute brass neck of it!"

Comments on the post were gobsmacked at the audacity of the neighbour, and offered helpful solutions – from phallic topiary to bee-friendly lawns.

"Golly," wrote one person.

"I'd personally spread about a kilo of wildflower seeds on all the berms and call it a day."