A guerrilla gardener in a hard hat and hi-vis cleared a Nelson roundabout of metre-high grass with a weed whacker, earning the mayor's thanks and a safety warning from NZTA.
Nelson mayor Nick Smith said in a post on Sunday he spotted the man at work on the State Highway 6 roundabout at Annesbrook and had to stop and thank him.
A photo shows the pair shaking hands, the man in a hard hat, face visor and hi-vis shirt with the weed-whacker in his grip, and traffic streaming past behind them.
Smith said it took the man 40 minutes to clear the central circle. Another person had cleared the outer ring on Friday.
"I am frustrated beyond belief at NZTA's inability to do the basic job of mowing their roundabouts," Smith said.
He said NZTA let the grass grow over a metre high every spring, blocking drivers' view of oncoming traffic and leaving the city looking "unkempt and scruffy". The council looked after its own roundabouts "without any drama", he said.
The mayor said he had raised the problem every year since he was elected in 2022, both with NZTA and at the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee, but had been "fobbed off with feeble excuses".
"NZTA need to get their act together and contract with one of Nelson's many capable gardening companies to do the job regularly," Smith said.
'Genuine health and safety risk' - NZTA
NZTA Nelson and Tasman area manager Rob Service said funding had already been approved to clear vegetation at State Highway 6 roundabouts, including Annesbrook, in the coming weeks. He said the work had been brought forward because of rapid spring growth. More mowing later in the financial year would depend on funding.
"We ask members of the public not to conduct weed or vegetation control within the state highway corridor," Service said.
He said doing the work close to live traffic lanes, particularly where the speed limit was 70km/h, was a "genuine health and safety risk".
Work in a 70km/h zone needed more safety measures than in a 50km/h zone because of the greater danger from faster traffic, Service said. About 14,000 vehicles go through the Annesbrook roundabout every day.
"We do not expect or encourage local residents or road users to take matters into their own hands," he said.
Service said anyone who spotted a problem on the state highway network could lodge a request for service on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49).
He said funding changes in the current National Land Transport Programme, directed by the Government Policy Statement on land transport, had forced NZTA to cut vegetation control on state highways, including in Nelson and Tasman.
Of the $147 million invested in the top of the South Island's state highways, $96 million was ring-fenced for pothole prevention.
NZTA now did weed and vegetation work less often, and tried to schedule it alongside other jobs such as resurfacing, Service said.
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