Media Statements

Ipswich primed for warmer months as mowing crews rev up

22 August 2025

Council is delivering on its Budget promise to improve service delivery as it adds 13 staff and 85 pieces of equipment to its maintenance arsenal in time for peak mowing season.

“Council has listened to residents, who have called for the basics such as mowing to be done well,” Ipswich City Council Environment and Sustainability Committee Chairperson Councillor Jim Madden said.

“Our 2025-2026 Budget has allocated funding for the recruitment of 13 new full-time staff members dedicated to maintaining our public spaces.

“The team has also been boosted with a cache of 52 new and 33 replacement pieces of equipment including mowers, tractors, slashers, whipper snippers, blowers, trimmers, trailers and more.

“Maintaining our public spaces is one of the most important functions of council. The visual appeal of our city is one of the many reasons it’s a great place to live.

“But this job has its share of challenges. In recent years, we’ve dealt with more frequent and severe weather events and rising service delivery costs.

“That’s not to mention the sheer size of the task at hand. Ipswich City Council manages more than 8,500 hectares of parkland and reserves across more than 550 sites, plus pathways, median strips, roundabouts and road islands.

“New residential areas built as our population booms means there are more places for us to maintain, while more than 500,000 square metres of new green spaces have been created under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back program.

“These challenges prompted council to undertake a comprehensive review of open space operations, which has led to improvements in how we deliver these services.

“The review identified the need for more staff and equipment – which we have delivered – as well as operational efficiencies that will help us cover more ground.

“We will continue to look at ways to boost the efforts of our mowing crews in line with community expectations.”