Page 2111 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018

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From a Griffith resident:

Extremely disenchanting to find that not only is the advertised sweeping program limited, but it also is not followed. Most areas of the Inner South have not seen a street sweeper this year yet the program suggests the entire area should have been swept in May. There are safety issues with temporary road flooding and build-up of leaves on foot paths, the Inner South is home to many older Canberrans and these conditions are not ideal. You would think that suburbs with deciduous street trees might get more street sweeping and also might one day get a green bin.

From a Forrest resident:

There are leaves everywhere. Some mornings I cannot drive my car out of the driveway because it is so clogged up.

From an O’Connor resident:

I raise the absence of street sweeping in areas like O’Connor where heavy leaf litter from street trees is choking gutters and drains. I suggest a drive down Quandong Street to see the problem. It is beyond the capacity of homeowners to manage, even with the best will in the world. It is no wonder drains are blocked and water quality suffers. There needs to be regular street sweeping in situations like this. It is no good coming once a year in September when the leaves have turned into a soggy mess. I urge you and the Liberals to pursue the government over the completely inadequate services in this regard.

Of course, this does not even include the numerous residents who have approached me at mobile offices, doorknocking or even during random run-ins at the local shops. They have told me about their personal experiences of having tripped, or almost tripped, due to the heavy leaf litter, particularly with uneven and cracked footpaths that remain in disrepair, despite requests through the fix my street website.

There were a number of residents who informed me that they end up sweeping up the leaves themselves. Some of them found good uses for them, either as mulch or for kids to play with, but others were left frustrated. These are some of the comments that were made to me via social media:

Street sweepers do very little good at removing leaves in gutters or over drain covers. This is in summer! In Autumn we have not even seen a street sweeper around our estate.

One commenter agreed:

Yes, they are few and far between.

Another noted:

The leaves just clutter up the storm drains. Then when we do get a downpour, the streets flood. And once the leaves have decomposed, it is not as bad. Fact is it should not be happening in the first place.


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