La Nina and supply breakdown blamed for mowing woes

THE Surf Coast Shire is blaming La Nina and a coronavirus-related supply breakdown for Winchelsea’s mowing and maintenance becoming “unsatisfactory and embarrassing”, according to a petition.

Titled “Keep Winchelsea tidy and smart”, the petition received by the council on December 8 was signed by 276 people opposed to the shire changing its arrangements for mowing and gardening crews.

“The dedicated local employees who used to manage gardening and mowing took pride in their work and did a great job,” the petition stated.

“Now we are part of a rotating crew arrangement. For two to three months, the presentation of the town has been unsatisfactory and embarrassing to us.”

The petition called on the shire to reinstate the local gardening and mowing team, disclose what standards applied to the maintenance of Winchelsea’s lawns and gardens and how their appearance was monitored, and maintain the town at a good standard all the time.

Councillors received a report on the petition at their January 19 meeting.

The report explained a La Nina weather pattern caused significantly higher than average growth rate across the shire in September and October 2020, which meant mowers from the shire’s Open Space Operations Unit could not get access to sodden open spaces to cut grass at the required frequency. This was compounded by supply issues related to COVID-19 for machinery parts.

However, dryer conditions and improvements in supply chains from November onwards “enabled the Open Space Operations Unit to return open spaces throughout the shire to their normal high-quality state”.

Councillors resolved to note the dedicated shire-wide mowing and parks maintenance crews would continue, with an assessment after a full 12-month cycle, but the council would receive data assessing the impact within the next 12 months.

A full review of the Open Space Operations service will be also done within the next two financial years.

“Winchelsea is a very proud town, and the residents and the businesspeople like it to be well presented”, Cr Wellington, who moved the motion, said.

“It’s not clear to me from the report whether it was a change in the operating arrangements, a change in the weather conditions, or a combination of both that caused the unhappiness.

“I wouldn’t like us to get to next spring and have the same problem, and then wait another several months or a year to get an evaluation of the service.”

Cr Adrian Schonfelder declared an interest in the matter as he signed the original petition, but he had sought advice on the matter and did not believe he had a conflict of interest within the definitions of the Local Government Act, and he also did not hold a predetermined position on the issue.