Page 3817 - Week 11 - Thursday, 24 November 2022
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having unprecedented impacts on our mowing program, meaning that a larger volume of grass than ever is being mown. There are more passes and more cuts being done by the fantastic mowing teams both in the ACT government and contractors. That grass is growing at a significant rate with the warmer weather and moist conditions, which has far exceeded any expectation.
Importantly, development across our city and urban infill means that more areas of our city than ever need to be mown. While we continue to grow the number of mowers supporting our program, we do face ongoing challenges with wet weather and soil saturation. Transport Canberra City Services aims to take care to ensure that the amenity around our lakes is a priority, recognising the importance of our urban lakes as recreational spaces for all Canberrans.
Mr Davis raised concerns about how grass clippings are impacting the water quality of the lake, and he has raised concerns about the levels of phosphorus entering Lake Tuggeranong. I acknowledge that those concerns are from the community. It is something that we are going to be looking at as part of the work in developing a new open space land management strategy. We are looking forward to consulting on that. It will also look at those mowing practices going forward, so that we can establish what the best practice should be in the ACT for mowing.
But it is important to highlight that grass clippings, alongside other organic material, are just one element that impacts water quality. Other significant impacts identified, including those identified by the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment in the State of the lakes and waterways in the ACT report include nutrient sediment, animal faeces, litter and organic matter such as leaves. The government does a lot to address the inflow of a number of these impacts and undertakes a range of different works, under successive ministers, to prevent a range of these elements entering the waterways. I acknowledge the work that continues under the Healthy Waterways program, led by Minister Rattenbury, responsible for water.
The report by the commissioner also identifies a range of issues that impact the longstanding water quality issues, particularly in Lake Tuggeranong, from the size of the lake, growing urban development around it and in its catchment and overall biodiversity. Transport Canberra and City Services will continue to do what they can to prevent concerning inflows into the lake. That includes exploring the way that grass clippings are managed, as put forward for consideration by Mr Davis in his motion.
Due diligence is done to prevent, as much as possible, clippings from government mowers entering our waterways. I understand that there was a particular notorious incident undertaken by a Suburban Land Agency mower next to the new development that is occurring in Tuggeranong. Of course, there are certainly lessons to be learnt as we continue to mow and work with some of our more inexperienced mowers, who may not be aware of some of the practices that Transport Canberra and City Services take. But operators ensure that, as much as possible, clippings do not go onto the road or footpaths or into stormwater infrastructure. I often receive photographs from people literally as the mowing is happening where there are substantial clippings on the paths. But it may be only up to a day later that they come back to try and clear away some of that material. Obviously, their focus at the moment is getting the clipping done, and that is a substantial task in the current weather conditions.
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