OVERGROWN and overdue for a makeover, Lake Macquarie's median strips are in councillor Jason Pauling's sights.
For him, it's a matter of civic pride, determined to make sure the city doesn't 'let itself go'.
"The problem for me is that I had a visitor from out of town ring me up and say, 'your city looks crap'," Cr Pauling said.
"I suspect like most things it's definitely resourcing related, Lake Macquarie City Council has clearly struggled with maintaining weeds and grass growth in our parks and along median strips and road edges.
"We've dropped the ball here in how we present the city, our median strips say we don't care."
The issue was raised at a recent council meeting, where Cr Pauling asked for a memo from council staff abut the level of service for median strips across the area, the responsibilities of the council, the state and how frequently they are manicured.
Part of the issue in Lake Macquarie is moving equipment from one side of the lake to the other, Cr Pauling said, with one central depot at Boolaroo.
"Almost by definition it's incredibly difficult from a resource efficiency perspective to maintain the city well, because the distance to move equipment is so far," he said.
"The ultimate goal here is for our city to present as it should. We have high standards and expect it to present well and be maintained well, I don't think that's an unreasonable perspective from council or residents."
A council spokesman said it had to balance resources and priorities across a wide range of maintenance jobs.
"We're constantly reviewing our work practices, processes and operational needs to provide a consistent and high level of service," he said.
"That includes reviewing vegetation maintenance schedules, trialling different machinery and reviewing spray programs."
The council is responsible for median strips and roadsides on regional and local roads, while Transport for NSW (TFNSW) looks after state roads.
Lake Macquarie council does some maintenance work on state roads for TFNSW, while some, like the Pacific Highway, are maintained by the state.
"The frequency of service and maintenance depends on the location, nature of the site, safety factors, machinery available and traffic control requirements," the council spokesman said.
"TFNSW sets service levels on state roads."
According to the council spokesman, the level of service had not changed on local or regional roads, in fact, he said the level of service the council provided on state roads had increased in the past year.
Members of the community can report requests for median strips to be mowed to the council, or TFNSW for state roads.
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