One resident, Michelle Bouldin, said she has made several complaints to the council regarding the state of public areas particularly surrounding Beltana Park which have gone largely unattended.

Ms Bouldin said the main issues surrounded weed infestation and a lack of attention to gardens which poses a greater risk of snakes. She said there had also been dead animals left in the area for days after being killed in road accidents.

“I know it’s not high on people’s priority list but we pay a lot of rates out here and we expect the minimum level of service back,” Ms Bouldin said.

The council did not provide a full maintenance schedule for Googong but a spokesman did say sporting fields were attended to weekly, amenities surrounding fields were cleaned daily and mowing was completed on an as needs basis.

He added that mowing needs were prone to seasonal changes as well as rain and workload of council staff.

Ms Bouldin said perhaps the area needed permanent grounds staff as it grew because the new development required a lot of attention.

The spokesman said the issues could have arisen because of a transition of public land from the developers to the council.

Parks and gardens are initially maintained by the responsible developer, once the council accepts the land it is maintained by contractors for a further 12 months before council takes full responsibility.

“It must be noted that for marketing purposes developers often maintain assets to a standard beyond the resources of council,” the spokesman said.

“This includes maintaining assets not usually maintained by Council such as nature strips and gardens on the road side of footpaths in front of private properties.

“The practice across the rest of the region, and across NSW, is that property owners usually maintain those areas, not Council.”

If a resident has a particular issue with council land they can lodge a complaint or make a maintenance request through a number of ways. They can telephone the council on 1300 735 025, email council@qprc.nsw.gov.au, complete an online form, or download and use the Snap Send Solve app.

The spokesman said the council would review its maintenance services in Googong in the first half of this year and determine the level of service appropriate and how it will be resourced.