Dead grass along the roadside is worrying some residents.By Monique Ebrington
POISONED areas of grass in parks, sporting clubs and along the lawn embankments of Warburton have been criticised as “disgusting” by locals.
A Shire contractor sprayed grass around the Cenotaph park, bowling club, football ground, public toilets and lawn embankments along the south side of Warburton’s main street.
The spraying left areas of dead grass in public view at a time, right before the Melbourne Cup long weekend, when the town should be looking its best, says Warburton resident Julie Gason.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to thinks it’s shocking for tourism,” Ms Gason said.
Ms Gason and her partner were driving through town when they noticed the effects of the grass spraying in Warburton.
“It was terrible, it really stood out. I’ve lived here for so long and you get used to seeing a green town.
“We have an environmentally minded group of councillors, at the moment, and it defies logic to make a tourist town look like this,” Ms Gason said.
Shire Manager of Community Relations James Martin has defended the spraying however, saying it is timed around fire periods.
“Reducing fire risk and tidying up the area is always done in the lead up to the fire season,” Mr Martin said.
He said safety was another reason that the contractor decided to spray instead of using a grass slasher.
While a slasher is usually used to clear overgrown grass around Warburton, depending on the circumstances, the method also carries the risk of flicking up stones onto nearby houses and cars, Mr Martin said.
He says the means for treating overgrown grass in the future will be decided based on what is appropriate for the area, safe and achievable.
