Fast-growing weeds forces U-turn at roundabouts

The weeds on overgrown Nelson roundabouts and traffic islands along State Highway 6 will now be trimmed this month.

The revelation comes less than a week after the New Zealand Transport Agency – Waka Kotahi said that weeding wasn't scheduled until December.

The agency has confirmed that the weed control is, weather permitting, expected to be conducted around 18 October – next week – along Whakatū Drive/SH6.

A spokesperson said the work had been brought forward because the vegetation has grown “very quickly” during the onset of spring.

“The work needs to be undertaken soon before the vegetation becomes unmanageable for our contractors to manage with their machines.”

It’s currently unclear whether the weeding will extend beyond Whakatū Drive to other sections of the state highway, such as Annesbrook and Queen Elizabeth II Drives.

The impact on traffic at this stage is similarly unknown as the traffic management plan is still being developed.

The U-turn comes after public outcry launched the weeds back into local headlines.

The issue of overgrown roundabouts and traffic islands were a consistent issue for the city over the course of 2022.

Guerilla gardeners, such as self-proclaimed “weed witches”, have tried to solve the problem themselves in the past, and a resident has already been spotted trimming some of the weeds this year.

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith has previously been highly critical of the transport agency’s approach to weed management and has been putting pressure on Waka Kotahi over the last few weeks.

His frustrations had been boiling to the point where he had been considering taking care of the weeds himself.

He was “relieved” the weeding was being brought forward given the safety issues posed by the tall vegetation and described the situation as “embarrassing” for Waka Kotahi.

“It has been incredibly frustrating when this issue has been raised multiple times over the last two years that NZTA can't get something as knocking a few weeds over resolved.”

Smith said he struggled with how long it was taking for the agency to get a long-term solution.

A Waka Kotahi representative confirmed the agency was investigating concrete and landscaping options back in December 2022.

“How on earth is NZTA going to be able to deliver a huge project like the Hope Bypass in a reasonable timeframe when they can't sort out a landscape design for around about in two years?”

Waka Kotahi had said that funding changes had resulted in a shift to a yearly vegetation control programme.

Smith acknowledged that everybody was under financial pressure at the moment.

“But I just can simply not accept that the simple job of regularly mowing and weeding these roundabouts … is a sensible budgetary saving in these tight times.”

Nelson councillor Mel Courtney sits alongside Smith on the region’s transportation committee and has similarly long taken issue with the weed problem.

It wasn’t adequate that a solution hadn’t yet been put forward, he said, suggesting that a plan could be developed “over a cup of coffee”.

He pointed to the “good job” Waka Kotahi has done for the roundabout at the intersection of Haven Road and Queen Elizabeth II Drive, which is covered by stones and some plantings and doesn’t have the same weed problems as those on Whakatū Drive.

“People take pride in the city, a beautiful city, and here we are, having to razzle them [Waka Kotahi] up every 12 months.”

The cost of managing the weeds would be “infinitesimal”, he thought.

Both men thought a yearly weed maintenance programme was insufficient.

“Our council spends tens of millions of dollars on trying to make our city look good,” Smith said.

“It's a really bad look when NZTA says that they are only going to mow these grass areas once a year. If I told my wife I was only going to mow the lawns once a year, I'd get a divorce.”