Changes are coming for those who have their grass verge mown by Waikato District Council.
From 1 October, Council has implemented the Grass Verge Policy in urban areas (50kph) to make mowing of verges the responsibility of the adjacent landowner.
Introducing a Grass Verge Policy brings Council into line with many of its neighbouring councils. It also gives Council the opportunity to ring fence costs and provide consistency across the district.
The change comes after Council adopted a Grass Verge Policy last month following a period of consultation.
“Up until now, Council has maintained over 670 individual grass verges across the district, excluding the former Franklin district. This has been at a cost of more than $100,000 per year to all rate payers. We’ve been doing this for historical reasons and up until the Grass Verge Policy was adopted, we didn’t have a formal process in place to determine which verges got mown and which didn’t. This approach would have seen costs increase over time,” General Manager Service Delivery, Tim Harty says.
“By introducing this policy, Council can now consistently manage the maintenance of grass verges across the district,” Mr Harty says.
Council is now calling for those who feel they should be exempt from mowing their verge by way of age, illness or condition of grass verge to apply for an exemption by 28 October 2016. Those who do qualify will have their verge mown at least four times per year.
Applications have now closed for an exemption from Council’s Grass Verge Policy.
