Marlborough District Council Roading Assets - Activity Management Plan 2015 - 2018 SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Mowing operations will be suspended when the fire risk indices as follows are triggered, Fire Build Up Index > 50 and/or Drought Index Code > 500. During periods of high fire risk when all mowing is suspended the rural verges become untidy. Urban Roads Vegetation on the urban sealed network is cut to conform to a ‘Vegetation Free Envelope’ 6m tall from the edge of seal. Street trees are excluded from the envelope and will be managed on a case by case basis by the MDC amenities team. The verges of the following urban / semi-rural roads will be mown to 1.2m outside the edge of seal: Blenheim a) Taylor Pass Road, from 50km/h sign to Taylor Dam entrance, special emphasis shall be given to the verge area in the Mountain Bike Park b) Severne Street c) David Street d) Old Renwick Road to Murphy’s Road e) Alabama Road from Redwood Street area to SH1 f) New Renwick Road to 70/100 sign g) Hardings Road (at least 1 cut full width annually) Seddon a) The Seddon Walkway, SH1 to Seymour Street b) Taylor Pass Cemetery (Awatere Valley Road) Waikawa a) Waikawa Road (between Leicester Street and Beach Road and including to the Waikawa Marae frontage) b) Moana View Road (between Turners Road and Waimarama Street) On all roads the kerb and channel and footpaths (including paved areas in the Blenheim and Picton CBD) shall be kept vegetation free by chemical application (weed spraying). 1.6.6.3.3 Demand / Growth The rural verge vegetation standards are not expected to require any change during the life of this AMP due to the fact that at sites where development takes place and where public expectations could be expected to rise, the road neighbours take an active role in vegetation control on their boundary. There is not expected to be any significant increase in the rural road length that requires additional verge maintenance. 1.6.6.3.4 Life Cycle Management Verge maintenance is a routine maintenance activity. There is no renewal activity attached as there are no physical assets to consider. Verge activities are generally undertaken as lump sum items under the routine maintenance contracts. The maintenance contractors have a responsibility to manage, co-ordinate and audit verge maintenance activities to ensure compliance with the performance measures specified. Mowing, tree and scrub trimming are all lump sum activities. Herbicide spraying and other forms of noxious weed control are paid as either lump sum or as dayworks for special treatments such as managing Chilean Needlegrass. 1.6.6.3.5 Cost / Financial / FWP Rural verge vegetation costs are a significant activity, but the benefits to safety, road drying, amenity, weed and fire control balance the outlay. The estimated cost of verge maintenance activities and the financial forward works programme (FWP) are incorporated into the Environmental FWP, located at the end of this section, are based on current contract lumps sums escalated to 2014 dollars. The current level of expenditure is meeting the level of service expectation. No allowances have been made in the FWP for increases in demand. The following options have been considered when setting future budgets for future verge maintenance programmes; 30 September 2014 Page 85 of Section 1