We take pride in the care, management and operation of the region’s public open space and recreational areas. These beautiful green spaces connect people and nature, and promote healthy and creative lifestyles.
We look after around 1340 parks across our region. We have established these areas for active and passive recreation for our community, and to preserve the landscape features and natural environment of the Tablelands.
We use staff and contractors to keep our parks and open spaces safe, accessible and fit for purpose. Our mowing program includes our parks, some road verges, reserves and sports fields.
Seasonal conditions can impact maintenance and our crews work hard to keep our facilities, parks and open spaces mowed and maintained throughout the year.
We follow a mowing schedule based on seasonal conditions. Grass will typically be mowed more frequently during the warmer months when a lot of growth occurs, and mowed less during the cooler months when growth is much slower.
Our high-profile parks (classified as Sunshine Coast Wide and District Parks) attract more visitors and tourists. These parks are typically serviced on a weekly to fortnightly schedule in the peak summer growth period.
Rain and wet conditions can impact our mowing schedules. While we welcome the rain, we also welcome sunny days that help dry out the ground and allow our machinery to access sites so we can mow.
Schedules are amended to suit current weather conditions to ensure our staff and contractors are safe and our parks are not damaged in the process.
We do not use catchers on our mowers. This means when the grass is mowed the grass clippings are mulched and left on the ground to decompose, which returns nutrients to the soil and retains moisture. Removing and disposing of grass clippings also adds to the cost of maintenance.
We mow less frequently if there has been no significant rain and conditions become dry because:
- growth has slowed/stopped
- the grass will become dormant due to stress — it will respond when it rains
- mowing while it is dry can create dust
- dust patches can form if grass is mown frequently during dry conditions.
Weeds and seed heads can grow faster during dry conditions, creating an untidy appearance, while the grass surface remains short.
Our dry season typically coincides with our fire season. If the Queensland Fire Department (QFD) announces a critical fire risk, this will impact the use of equipment to maintain our open spaces. We will delay mowing until the fire risk has been removed by the QFD.
It becomes challenging to safely mow our open spaces if there has been significant and/or persistant rain.
The grass also grows quicker if the temperatures are warm — so quickly in fact it can look untidy only a few days after being mowed! This creates challenging conditions for our staff and contractors to keep our open spaces continually tidy and fit for use.
If you notice a greenspace that is overgrown chances are it is due to weather conditions and we are waiting for the ground to dry before it can be mowed again. If our mowing teams starts too early:
- the machine can create ruts and damage the park surface
- the grass may not cut properly or disperse
- conditions may not be safe for mowing.
In some cases we will mow the parts of our open spaces that are dry enough and leave the sections that are too wet.
Rest assured we are aware our parks need mowing and, as soon as they are dry enough, we’ll return to the regular mowing schedule.
If a park or green space needs mowing it is probably the result of wet conditions. Please be patient — we’ll mow the area as soon as it is dry and safe. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we continue to work through our mowing schedule.
Contact us to request a service or report a problem.