Council continues roadside slashing program into January

Ararat Rural City Council will continue its intensive roadside slashing program into January, in response to accelerated long grass growth.

Council’s roadside slashing program treats around 50 roadside locations across the municipality, including the Ararat Airport precinct. This includes slashing vegetation along the road shoulder of many Council-managed roads in the lead up to the Fire Danger Period.

Council Chief Executive Dr Tim Harrison said the wet and cold weather brings many challenges, causing grass to return faster than usual.

“Council carries out a roadside slashing program every year to maintain council-managed roads coming into fire season which starts in November,” Dr Harrison said.

“The program greatly assists road users by improving sight distances and reduces the spread of fire, however, with a road network length of 2,300km, the challenge is almost insurmountable.

“Due to the late rain in spring, some areas were too wet to work on safely, but our crews have continued to carry out cuts across the municipality through to January.

“Having had such a wet winter, vegetation on the roadside across the municipality has grown quicker than usual and continues to pose challenges.

“We’ve engaged contractors to revisit areas to carry out a second slash in particular areas, such as shoulders and drains, to reduce the amount of long grass on roadsides as well as our strategic fire breaks and township fire prevention cuts.”

Dr Harrison said the crews are undertaking the appropriate safety measures needed as the vegetation dries out with warmer weather.  

“Our crews are mindful of the fire risk that comes with cutting in warmer conditions and take this into account when planning the days’ work as it’s quite easy for the grass to ignite while cutting,” he continued.

“If you see our crews out and about, we encourage residents to drive carefully as you overtake. The team is working hard to keep the grass down but we also want to make sure they are safe.”

Council also reminds landowners to keep an eye out on roadsides and report problem areas via Council’s website www.ararat.vic.gov.au .