Parks and sports grounds around the City of Logan have been suffering from long term uncut grass for the past few months and rate payers are not happy.

Councillors from most divisions have been inundated with calls and emails from residents who have advised parks grass is above 30 centimetres while others have complained about the standard of work being delivered by contractors.

One of the issues for the Parks Department is the rain gets the grass growing, however it also exacerbates the situation as when it’s raining council are unable to undertake maintenance activities due to the wet conditions above and underfoot,

When the rain stops, the conditions in parks are not always ideal and this makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to access these areas to mow the grass without creating damage to the parks, fields and playing surfaces.

Another major issue that has recently been causing problems is COVID-19. Contractors are unable to keep workers due to them needing down time and this pushes the timeframes further out causing the grass to become longer.

Division 12 Councillor Karen Murphy said councils normal mowing interval between mowing rounds through summer is two weeks.

“Currently we are up to 10 days behind in some areas due to the staff shortages our contractors are experiencing, and it is taking the available staff longer to get through the round of mowing because the grass is so long and thick, this also makes the finish look worse as well.

“I am aware of some situations where our contractors have entire teams unavailable to work due to COVID-19.

“Understandably this has caused issues and we are working closely with our mowing suppliers, some of which are Logan businesses, to resolve any issues.

“I acknowledge and share your frustrations; however, these are exceptional circumstances, and we are doing our best to get back on the right track.

“We ask for your patience while we work through the strategies to alleviate these impacts.”

This week, a contractor mowed Noffke Park in Bethania around the Bethania Pool, Community Centre, and parklands with standards well below par.

The grass was above knee height when the contractor took to cutting the area and they left a large amount of clippings and missed many areas entirely making for an untidy and unsatisfactory final result.

With this happening at many areas in the city, the maintenance of public places is not meeting community expectations.

“You can report any council requests such as holes in the park, illegally dumped trolleys, rubbish and glass in parks to council directly on 3412 3412 and our officers will attend to those requests,” said Cr Murphy.