$10k to get your grass back

I reckon the businesses in Green Square could have easily got together and organised to water the grass themselves… re-using the water they used… there’s several hospitality businesses right there that must go through heaps of water.

I suspect one problem is that it’s in Kingston, and the gov’t is nervous about being seen to help too much a “silvertail” area. The fact that Green Square is part of old Canberra history, and is used by all kinds of people notwithstanding, it’s about perception.

How do they maintain The Lawns at Manuka?

Who would ever have thought that grass could become politically incorrect?

*chuckle*

“Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

Cat Stevens

“Perhaps the $10,000 a year could be found by taking a tiny portion of the seemingly endless funding for Mr Stanhope’s Arboretum,”

Oh Snap!

sepi said :

The turf needs regular replacing cos it is about the size of two backyards, but is used by hundreds of people a week.

It cant be watered with sprinklers as watering lawn is not allowed under water restrictions.

Put in a tank and be done with it. They could have paid for it with all the consultation and plans for spiky grass and tanbark etc that they have drawn up.

So they don’t water lawn in Glebe Park and on numerous sports fields? Restrictions are what one makes them.

If you’re a regular in Green Square you’ll know how many of our really young Canberran’s enjoy that space whilst their mum’s catch up over a much deserved coffee. Surely it can’t be rocket surgery to come up with a way to keep these lawns nice and green.

Act Treasury could be placated and have the land make a positive on its balance sheet if a vertical interest is created making more housing choice. Rip it all up and put a twenty story round tower block on the land, this will make a Kingston tower triangle thus making symmetry.
The land is not heritage and we should maximise land usage within this precinct, as it all is looking rather old. The tiles portraying the olden days could be put on a wall at the entrance of the tower. We should not muck around with ratbags complaining about urban renewal.

I still reckon they are wasting their time and money while those 2 big trees are there. They just suck any moisture and good out of the soil making it real difficult for grass to grow.

The turf needs regular replacing cos it is about the size of two backyards, but is used by hundreds of people a week.

It cant be watered with sprinklers as watering lawn is not allowed under water restrictions.

Put in a tank and be done with it. They could have paid for it with all the consultation and plans for spiky grass and tanbark etc that they have drawn up.

I’m always amazed that such simple problems lead to such complex solutions.

Seriously, Bunnings sell great big tanks for bugger all. Why doesn’t the government do it’s job and simply buy some tanks and put in irrigation.

It’s not rocket science, but it is obviously against their ideology.

drain the lakes for green square! ninja watering for all!

Why does the turf need to be replaced every two years? And why can’t they install a sprinkler system instead of using tankers to water it?

The idea that the grass should be watered using “second-class water via tanker” is totally absurd and further shows what how effectively people’s views have been distorted since governments have decided to blame urban water consumers for their own failures. Having tankers delivering “second class water” all over town is environmental vandalism and a waste of money. Potable water is not that precious. Not precious enough to waste money on rainwater tanks either Caroline Le Couteur.
It would seem that she is only smart about her own finances

If only Kate Carnell was still in power, she could paint it green.

Wow, that’s brilliant. First the ACT government runs it down, and now they want money to fix it up.

The mafia couldn’t have done any better.

you are right. the suspicious mounds would have been too inconvenient…

Our Canberra office is in Kingston. I must say that the ‘green’ part of green square is looking a tad unloved. For a while there it seemed like every year landscape contractors would descend on the place once a year work over the ground and lay new turf, which looked good until it died of neglect and the cycle would eventually be repeated.

I imagine that water restrictions play a role in the condition of the grass but I can’t imagine that there couldn’t be a way to overcome that with recycled water or similar.
That said, the retailers of Green Square do yield a certain amount of amenity from the landscaping, which in part contributes to attracting customers to the cafes and other businesses there, so it might not be unreasonable for them to make a contribution to the upkeep of the lawns. They already cover the cost of daily cleaning and other maintenance to improve amenity so it’s really not that greater leap.

This is ludicrous. Surely parks, conservation and lands ran it down in the first place? Besides, grass is much nicer than the spikes and bark look we are now getting everywhere (eg you can actually walk and play on grass).

Brown Square! What an embarrassment.

Instead of Government demanding that the omnipresent chance of ineptitude in ACT Government be involved, why can’t the grass be decided on by the a committee of tenants (like a Cynodon dactylon “Legend” variant) and maintained privately using tenancy fees and tank water?

fake turf would be longer lasting.

I’ll do it for half.

It’s called soil, grass seeds and water; ffs, it’s not rocket science.