Kingston Council orders man to slash his spiky nature strip succulents due to ‘safety concerns’

A KEEN gardener has been ordered to remove the agaves he planted on his nature strip in Melbourne’s south because they pose a “safety risk”.

Cheltenham’s Scott West is furious Kingston Council has ordered him to remove the spiky agaves he planted on his nature strip. Picture: Wayne Taylor

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A KEEN gardener has been ordered to remove spiky plants from his nature strip because they pose a “safety risk”.

Kingston Council has ordered Cheltenham man Scott West to remove his agaves or face a $200 fine, because prickly plants are banned from roadsides.

Mr West said he had planted the agaves three years ago to beautify the street and there had never been an issue with them.

“We’re meant to be the garden state,” Mr West said.

“The plants are neat, not overhanging the footpath, people can alight from their vehicles. They are below 500mm in height and in no way inhibit people’s ability to walk past.”

And he said in a walk around the neighbourhood he had found “at least 30 different properties with similar plants.”

Mr West said Kingston Council had asked for the addresses of other offending green thumbs, but he had “flatly refused”.

“If the council was actively out monitoring the municipality, not sitting waiting for vindictive locals to dob others in, they would already be aware of them,” he said.

Kingston Council general manager Jonathan Guttmann said a concerned person had reported the agaves to the council.

“Local laws officers visited and found Agave Americana plants, which are not permitted as their long, spiky spines pose a safety risk particularly to children and pets,” he said.

“Council has a responsibility to act once it has been notified about a safety concern to ensure the area is made safe for passing pedestrians, cyclists and animals.”

He suggested Mr West transfer the plants to his own property and has offered him an extra month to do so.