Cr Philip Penfold said he took two calls from parents on Saturday who had to mow grass around the pitch on the Johnston Reserve behind Maitland Hospital so their children could play cricket.

“More resources are required by council to mow our city’s parks and recreational areas – and it is up to councillors to provide these resources,” Cr Penfold said on Sunday. 

“I am not criticising council or council staff, who work very hard, putting in additional hours on additional days.

“Grass cutting has been affected by the recent heavy rains. We have now had a rainfall eight times heavier than for the usual January.

“This makes it harder to mow, but Maitland is also growing fast and council is taking on more land that it is responsible for maintaining.

“Extra sporting fields and recreational areas need extra resources so they can be maintained and it is up to councillors to allocate extra amounts needed for mowing.

“Councillors will have to make decisions in the coming months for the budget in the financial year ahead.

“This is about more than mowing around the cricket pitch at the Johnston Reserve and it is not impossible to solve.

He referred to a recent council ­survey of residents in which presentation of the city was listed as being most important to them.

“We need to listen to our own ­surveys and what people list as being most important,” Cr Penfold said.