Taming the strip
THE residents on Glenabbey Drive have shared their disappointment regarding the upkeep of the front of their properties over the past few months.
Dubbo Regional Council has provided limited responses, proposing residents are to maintain their own nature strips in front of private properties.
Resident Kevin Borrar said it is impossible to maintain the nature strip as there as rocks and mesh under the weeds.
“It gets extremely dangerous during rain fall as the rocks go into the driveway and crack the pavement,” said Mr Borrar, who recently had two knee replacements and is unable to lift rocks out of the nature strip due to injury.
Residents have contacted council regarding the maintenance of the strips, however, DRC Mayor, Mathew Dickerson told Dubbo Photo News last week that council does not have budget and resources to maintain nature strips.
Mr Borrar shared that because of the gradient of the road, the rocks gradually fall and end up in a pit at the bottom of the road.
“The rocks are creating a hazardous environment for the street because most of the residents are older,” he continued, saying somebody will get hurt in the near future.
“Glenabbey Drive is poorly maintained as there are no footpaths, curbs or street lights either,” he said, adding that when children walk to the bus stop in the morning they are required to walk on the road.
Another resident impacted by the nature strips, Heath Busch, agreed that the maintenance should be at the expense of the developers.
Mr Busch shared that council is currently cleaning up drainage systems at rate payers' expense because of the lack of future planning, he said that it was an “easy money grab for council with no thought about infrastructure for the future”.
He pointed to the the dangers of the rocks clogging up the drainage system causing a lack of water pressure, and said the unkempt system can result in fires if not maintained.