Grass cut slashed

Prior to Christmas, an article appeared in the Pakenham Gazette, urging residents to report neighbors who failed to cut the grass on their properties to reduce the risk of fire.
My neighbors and I slashed our paddocks pre-Christmas and the result has been a greening of the paddocks, greatly minimizing the risk of fire.
The same cannot be said of the road reserves, Bourkes Creek Road, Pakenham Upper, is within a high fire danger region, and the roadsides have not been slashed for as long as I can recall.
Last week I noticed grass slashing being undertaken along the Kooweerup Road where the grass is long and dry.
It appears to me the frequency of roadside maintenance has been greatly reduced in recent years, I’m not sure if this is a result of reduced expenditure, in which case one wonders where the funds are being use, and the limited slashing that is being done is being carried out too late in the season.
Long dry grass and several days of high temperatures and Total Fire Ban days and a lack of maintenance by the responsible authority?
Philip Buckland,
Pakenham Upper.