The ins and outs of verges
Verges are a hot topic and one of our most asked about services here at Council. We wanted to answer some of the most common questions that we get.
For starters, what is a verge?
The verge is the area that sits between the road and your property boundary. This is roughly where the water meter is located. This area is known as the Council verge. Council is responsible for the maintenance of verges. Our Urban Verge Mowing Program schedule can be found here.
Did you know that there are almost 700kms of urban verges?
With such a huge area to cover, each cutting cycle generally takes around 40 days for Council to complete. Each year we aim to do 5 cutting cycles. Although we need to acknowledge that sometimes the weather can have impacts on the speed in which we can do our cutting rounds.
What about the grass clippings?
Grass clippings are collected by our street sweepers as soon as practical after the mowing has occurred. We commit to a maximum delay of 24 hours to comply with Environment Protection Authority (EPA) requirements. Footpath blower operators also follow the Urban Verge Mowing Program to blow any grass from the footpath to the roadway for ease of removal by the street sweeper.
Why are there three mowers following each other along the verge?
We have researched and experimented with different approach to our verge mowing program and have found that the current approach is the most efficient way to cut verges. Generally, 1 mower will cut a strip along the footpath edge, followed by a 2nd mower cutting the strip along the roadside edge and in circumstances where fence line cut is required the 3rd mower will take this. This is the most efficient way as mowers are not reversing up and back and turning around so often.
Can I maintain my own verge?
Often, residents ask if it’s ok to maintain a Council verge, and the answer is yes. We encourage our ‘verge proud’ residents to complete a Verge Landscaping Application and submit this to Council. The applications process is important to make sure residents are aware of any associated risk when working on their verge. Once an application is successful, Council will attach a green metal marker to your kerb to notify Council verge crews not to maintain your verge on their rounds.
Who do I contact if I have any questions about verges?
You can log a customer request online, by visiting Playford Online Services, phoning Customer Care on (08) 8256 0333 or by sending an email to playford@playford.sa.gov.au