Council Is Making Its Marx

By Duncan Horscroft on August 16, 2012 in News

Ssshh… don’t tell anyone, but it seems the Communist Party is making inroads back into the Australian Government through local councils.

Or at least that is what one is led to believe after making enquiries about why Waverley Council is not accepting responsibility for the maintenance of nature strips between the road and footpaths outside local residences.

I have been having an ongoing battle with Waverley Council trying to get someone to come and mow the small nature strip outside my home, which has become overgrown due to the more than adequate supply of precipitation falling from the heavens over the past six months or so.

The response to my question as to why the residents had not been informed of a motion passed by council in 2000 making the residents responsible for the maintenance of council land outside their homes was: “It’s not council policy to notify residents of motions passed at council meetings.”

Well colour me red and hoist the hammer and sickle, I thought we lived in a democracy where the people had a say in what was happening in their own environment.

However, that does not appear to be the case, and one half expects Chairman Mao or Uncle Ho to be resurrected and out on the hustings leading into the upcoming council elections next month.

For the council to expect residences to have to use their own equipment or pay for a contractor to maintain the nature strips is appalling. We already pay rates for the various services the council has on offer and we should receive some sort or remuneration for the services the council expects us to provide for them.

If council feels these areas belong to us then I suggest rather than mowing them, let’s all build carports on them, thus eliminating the need for maintenance and also providing much-needed car parking facilities for those of us who have to park on the streets.

I recently suggested to Councillor Mora Main that the council should provide all the equipment for the residents to use in their own streets at regular intervals during the year. Not only would the streets be well kept, but also the neighbours would use these days to get know each other over a cold beer and a hot lawnmower.

“I suspect the supply of equipment to residents would be problematic from an insurance liability perspective” was the reply I received.

“It is recognised that many people do not own lawnmowers and in an attempt to address this issue, residents are encouraged to look after nature strips by either mowing them or planting native gardens to improve biodiversity, or to grow fruit or nut trees and vegetables or herbs…”

“Your rates have to be stretched to be as effective as possible, and maintaining the beaches and coastal parks and the impact of use by so many visitors (and residents) must be a central focus.”

So there you have it. Council is more worried about cleaning up after visitors rather than helping its own rate-paying residents maintain their own streets.

And as far as the “insurance liability perspective” goes, what happens if a member of the public is injured in an unkempt nature strip area. Does the liability therefore fall upon the residents’ shoulders. I don’t think so.

Or, taking it a step further, if a contractor is injured maintaining council-owned property, do they have a claim?
Hmmmm… this could get interesting. I’m just waiting for a reply from Karl Marx’s press secretary!