Statement - Nature strip spraying

Last updated on 24 December 2025

Council has been alerted to reports of sections of nature strip grass dying off locally, consistent with spraying.

This matter is being swiftly investigated to fully determine what has occurred, although it appears there has likely been an issue through Council's street sweeping process, where an attachment is fitted to safely and efficiently spray an approved herbicide in town gutters, to proactively prevent unwanted growth.

The safety of the public and our staff is our number one priority – we would like to reassure residents that we are committed to the responsible and limited use of glyphosate-based herbicide, and we are confident that this use poses no risk to people, pets or the environment, even despite this misapplication. It is applied from the back of our street sweepers and the spraying only takes place when conditions are safe to do so (i.e. not on a windy day).

Our street sweeping program may experience some delays over the Christmas/New Year period while this matter is investigated. Following this, we will put in place additional measures as necessary to prevent it from happening again.

We apologise to anyone impacted, and we also appreciate that as our Council offices prepare to close over the festive period (from 12:30pm on 24 December 2025, reopening on Monday 5 January 2026), we will be more limited than usual to respond to public queries.

We ask that for anyone who believes their nature strip may be impacted, they lodge their query online with evidence where possible (i.e. imagery, location details) via our website (mrsc.vic.gov.au/report-it). This will help us to better understand the spread of the impacts and consider next steps.

Residents can also lodge their query via the Snap Send Solve app, however our website is preferred as it automates our customer reference process, making it more efficient for us to log and respond to queries.

To report any urgent issues over our closure period, please call 5422 0333 and you will be transferred to our after-hours service.