Grass concerns

By Kelly Yates
A PRINCIPAL at a Narre Warren South school has spoken out about his concerns that long grass near the school is attracting snakes and could potentially be a fire hazard.
With a couple of recent snake sightings around Heritage College, Colin Gallagher said the state of the grass near the pathway to the school, along Centre Road, had been an issue for the past few months.
The grass, which reaches almost five feet tall, is managed by Melbourne Water.
“The children and their mothers use the footpath to get to and from school,” Mr Gallagher said.
“We want the grass cut.”
According to Mr Gallagher, Melbourne Water representatives cut the grass areas across the road from the school and in the wetlands last week.
“But the section we are worried about still hasn’t been mowed. It would only take half an hour to cut.”
Melbourne Water spokesman Nicolas McGay said they cleared vegetation at the location four times a year, in October, December, February and May.
Mr McGay said the schedule had been planned so that most of the clearing coincided with heavy growth periods, and before and during summer.
“We cleared vegetation at the reserve last week as per the maintenance schedule,” he said.
“The combination of heavy rain and warmer temperatures over the past month has been ideal for growth, so we’ve seen grass growing at double the normal rate.”
Parent Lisa Harvey, who has two children that attend the school, walks along the path most mornings and afternoons.
Ms Harvey said she spotted a brown snake about a month ago.
“The grass is so tall. It’s dangerous,” she said.
The 37-year-old said the grass was also a potential fire risk.
“The paddock areas around the school are quite neglected. We had fires in Narre Warren South earlier this year and I’d hate to think something similar could happen which could have been prevented by getting the grass cut.”