CHANGES to the State Government’s roadside vegetation management will provide councils with greater decision-making powers regarding managing and removing regrowth.
New interim guidelines released by the Environment Department contain greater provisions for local councils, including permission to clear regrowth of up to 20 years.
The guidelines will allow councils and the state’s Transport Department to undertake the majority of their roadside vegetation maintenance without requiring any approval.
Where an approval is required, the process will be streamlined.
Environment and Water Minister David Speirs said the management of roadside vegetation was an important issue for regional communities.
“Roadside vegetation presents particular challenges to local councils in regional South Australia,” Mr Speirs said.
“We must acknowledge native vegetation has a very important environmental role, but equally acknowledge the safety risks it can pose as well.
“It can grow quickly, it can get out of control and it can cause problems with lines of sight.
“The interim guidelines allow greater flexibility around the management of native vegetation and these can be accessed and used straight away.”
Grant District Council works manager Adrian Schutz said the provisional guidelines would allow councils to do most of their roadside vegetation management without requiring additional approval.
“We do not see a lot of issues with vegetation in our area and there are not a lot of issues around the trimming,” he said.
“The only time we have an issue is when we want to realign a road and then you just have to go through the process.
“There is a significant process to go through and it depends on how much you need to remove and how significant it is.
“There needs to be some guidelines because you do not want to go in and remove all vegetation on the side of the road.
“Flora and fauna is important and it is important we manage it appropriately.”
The Native Vegetation Council will visit regions to discuss the guidelines.
Members of the public can also provide feedback.
The guidelines and more information are available on the yoursay.sa.gov.au website.
Public feedback is open until December 31.
The Native Vegetation Council has distributed the guidelines and wants councils and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) to use them for a trial period before providing feedback by June 30, 2019.
