Parks and Open Space Maintenance

Council maintains more than 1,500 hectares of open space across the Fraser Coast, ensuring our parks, playgrounds, roadsides, and natural areas remain safe, clean, and welcoming for the community.

You can:

Check the Mowing Maintenance Map to see how often an area is scheduled for mowing.
Raise a Request if you notice an issue or have a maintenance enquiry.

Mowing Maintenance MapRaise a Request

Mowing and Slashing Management

Council delivers a coordinated mowing and vegetation program across parks, sports fields, roadsides, drainage corridors, and other open-space areas. Service frequencies and maintenance standards are guided by the Parks Strategy 2041(PDF, 19MB) and the Open Space Service Frequencies Framework(PDF, 323KB).

Services for parks are delivered across four levels:

Regional Parks - high-profile, city-wide destinations and competition-level facilities.
District Parks - significant recreation reserves and open spaces serving multiple communities.
Local Parks - neighbourhood parks and community-level open spaces.
Greenspace Parks - baseline service parks, typically low-use, passive, or buffer parkland maintained for safety and tidy presentation.

Other Open Space Classes

In addition to parks, mowing and slashing also apply to:

Roadside verges - rural and urban verges maintained primarily for safety and presentation.
Road corridors - medians, buffers, and trafficable areas.
Drainage corridors and stormwater channels - maintained for access, safety, and function.
Utility / open buffer land - broadacre areas with low recreational use, maintained for fire mitigation and amenity.

Service Standards

The following standards define how open-space areas are maintained across the Fraser Coast and form the baseline for all service frequencies under the Parks Strategy 2041(PDF, 19MB).

General Mowing (GM): Applies to grassed areas within parks and recreation reserves. Turf height is maintained between 40–60 mm to ensure safe, functional, and visually appealing presentation.
Slashing (SL): Applies to broadacre and open-space areas, including rural verges and large grassed corridors. Vegetation is maintained to an average height of 100 mm for access, safety, and amenity.
Sports Fields (SF): Covers turfed sports grounds and playing surfaces. Grass height is maintained between 20–30 mm, with programmed renovation, fertilising, and irrigation provided at Regional and District facilities.
Specialty Mowing (SP): Applies to hazard or difficult-access sites, such as embankments, drains, batters, and flood channels. These areas are maintained to safe, functional standards using flail or remote mowing equipment.
Manual Mowing (MN): Refers to confined or sensitive locations where machinery access is limited. Areas are maintained using push mowers and hand-held equipment, with grass kept between 40–60 mm.

These service standards ensure a consistent, safe, and professional appearance across all maintained areas, supporting community expectations and sustainable asset management.

Scheduled Maintenance Programs

The following tables outline the standard mowing and maintenance frequencies that guide delivery across the Fraser Coast region. These frequencies align with the Parks Strategy 2041(PDF, 19MB) and are displayed through the Mowing Maintenance Map.

Council uses scheduled programming and data-driven planning to coordinate these activities, ensuring crews are deployed efficiently across the region. This proactive approach reduces duplication of effort, minimises travel time, and delivers measurable cost efficiencies for ratepayers while maintaining high service standards.

Service frequencies are also integrated with Council’s Request and Works Management System, providing transparent scheduling, performance tracking, and responsive community reporting.

General Mowing (GM - Parks, 40-60 mm)

Code	Category	Visits per year	Service Frequency	Notes
GM1	Regional Recreation Parks and Reserves	38	Summer: weekly Winter: fortnightly	High-profile recreation hubs, city entries, waterfronts.
GM2	District Recreation Parks and Reserves	26	Fortnightly (year-round)	District reserves, playground surrounds, and activity nodes.
GM3	Local Recreation Parks and Reserves	18	Summer: fortnightly Winter: monthly	Local neighbourhood parks and corridors.
GM4	Greenspace Parks	12	Monthly (year-round)	Monthly (year-round)

5.2 Slashing (SL - Broadacre, 100 mm)

Code	Category	Visits per year	Service Frequency	Notes
SL1	Regional Open Space	12	Monthly (year-round)	Regional-scale open land, corridors, and buffer zones.
SL2	District Open Space	9	Summer: monthly Winter: bi-monthly	District-level roadside and rural grassland.
SL3	Local Open Space	6	Bi-monthly (year-round)	Local corridors and moderate-use open grassland.
SL4	Greenspace Open Space	4	Quarterly (year-round)	Rural verges and low-use broadacre lands.

5.3 Sports Fields (SF - Turf, 20-30 mm)

Code	Category	Visits per year	Service Frequency	Notes
SF1	Regional Elite Sports Fields	76	Summer: twice-weekly Winter: monthly	High-use competition fields, premium presentation, intensive renovation.
SF2	Regional Sports Fields	52	Summer: weekly Winter: fortnightly	Regional sports grounds with fertiliser and herbicide programs.
SF3	District Sports Fields	38	Summer: fortnightly Winter: monthly	District-level fields maintained safe and functional.
SF4	Local Sports Fields	26	Fortnightly (year-round)	Local training and casual-play fields.

5.4 Specialty Mowing (SP - Embankments, Flail and Remote)

Code	Category	Visits per year	Service Frequency	Notes
SP1	Regional Specialty Mowing	12	Monthly (year-round)	Regional drains, batters, and flood channels requiring hazard mowing.
SP2	District Specialty Mowing	9	Summer: monthly Winter: bi-monthly	District embankments and roadside hazard sites.
SP3	Local Specialty Mowing	6	Bi-monthly (year-round)	Local hazard sites requiring flail or remote mowing.
SP4	Greenspace Specialty Mowing	4	Quarterly (year-round)	Rural drains / verges where slope or access limits standard mowing.

5.5 Manual Mowing (MN - Push and Snip, 40-60 mm)

Code	Category	Visits per Year	Service Frequency	Notes
MN1	Regional Manual Mowing Sites	38	Weekly in summer; Fortnightly winter	High-profile confined or sensitive sites.
MN2	District Manual Mowing Sites	26	Fortnightly (year-round)	District heritage or confined sites.
MN3	Local Manual Mowing Sites	18	Fortnightly in summer; Monthly winter	Local confined or restricted sites.
MN4	Greenspace Manual Mowing Sites	12	Monthly (year-round)	Low-use greenspaces and verges maintained manually.

Community Information

These scheduled service frequencies ensure maintenance activities are delivered efficiently, safely, and in alignment with the Parks Strategy 2041(PDF, 19MB).

Through structured programming and continuous monitoring, Council optimises resources, reduces operational costs, and provides reliable, high-quality services to the community. Residents can view service areas and mowing frequencies on the Mowing Maintenance Map or Raise a Request if an area requires attention.