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Many Hibiscus Coast residents have planted beyond their front gates and onto the berm, however local boards will soon be asked whether they wish to allow this practice to continue.
The berm is not only the strip between footpath and road, but also the one directly outside a property that has utility companies’ equipment underneath it and it is for this reason that Auckland Transport (AT) began reviewing its policy on berm planting last year (in February, 2014). The CCO’s existing policy is that planting is not permitted, as it may create safety hazards, cause damage to underground services such as sewage, water and power, and increase ongoing road corridor maintenance if homeowners do not maintain the plantings.
After a review that has taken 14 months, the AT executive recently approved a new statement of Proposed Berm Planting Practice, which includes a suggested role for local boards. Local boards will be informed at workshops this month about the details of what is proposed, but basically they are being asked whether they wish to allow berm planting at all in their area and whether specific berm planting proposals meet their local ‘place-making’ criteria. The proposals also allow local boards to “galvanise local action” where berm plantings do not comply with the new criteria.
Berms were often planted by Hibiscus Coast residents as the former Rodney District Council did not mow or maintain the area, and allowed the Council-owned berms to be planted, reserving the right to remove the planting without replacing it should the need arise.
Generally berm plantings only came to the former Council’s attention if services had to be accessed, pavements widened, or neighbours had concerns with the plantings such as visibility when pulling out of driveways or other health and safety issues.
As a result, residents got creative with everything from roses to sunflowers, natives, palm trees, rockeries and hibiscus, while in other cases nature has covered steeply banked berms with weeds such as agapanthus.
AT is responsible for the maintenance of streets, footpaths and berms but generally the responsibility of mowing grass berms now rests with the owners or occupiers of a property, with a few exceptions.
