Ipswich City Council’s half-million dollar plan to combat mowing issues

Ipswich City Council reveals plans to combat overgrown areas after last summer’s wet weather left officers overwhelmed with mowing jobs.

Overgrown grass in public spaces will be a thing of the past following Ipswich City Council’s investment into mowing services.

IPSWICH City Council has made good on its promise to improve maintenance of public green spaces after being swamped with complaints this past summer regarding overgrown grass.

It was revealed on Thursday that an additional $550,000 would be allocated to Council’s mowing costs over the next year under the 2021-22 budget.

The Queensland Times reported in February that dozens of residents had grown frustrated with unkempt parks, footpaths, and reserves.

Many of them reported concerns that overgrown grassed areas - a direct result of a maintenance work backlog - posed safety issues.

Last summer’s unprecedented wet weather was cited as the cause of the issue, which reportedly left the council overwhelmed with work.

Mayor Teresa Harding said as a result a total 10 per cent increase would be allocated to mowing costs in a bid to improve services.

Mayor Teresa Harding hands down Ipswich City Council’s 2021-22 budget.

“All councillors received considerable feedback from the community over the summer about overgrown grass in our parks, sporting fields, reserves and kerbsides,” Cr Harding said.

“But council has listened to residents and taken action to ensure we don’t see a repeat of the past summer.”

She said maintenance of grassed areas would now be scheduled every six weeks instead of nine.

Major parks such as Queens Park, Kholo Gardens and Colleges Crossing are reportedly mown on a weekly basis, while other parks are on a three-weekly schedule.

“Council is so often about grassroots issues, and this is especially relevant here where in summer grass can quickly reach waist height,” Cr Harding said.

Ipswich City Council budget 2021-22

“Not only does it look unsightly, but it can also become a safety hazard.”

An aerial squad will reportedly be used to target areas in parks and reserves where grass was growing especially quickly.

“As necessary, we will be employing extra contractors to help maintain parks, key footpaths and median strips during times of high growth,” Cr Harding said.

About 50 workers are currently split across eight maintenance teams to maintain the city’s suburban open spaces.

A total 120 workers also care for council’s sport fields and large parks, though this number varies in accordance with seasonal demand.

Read more stories by Kaitlyn Smith here.