The use of leaf blowers at SSH& complexes must come to an end. That is the demand of a petition submitted by Joyce Haringa, who is annoyed by the use of leaf blowers at her city building and at the Mariënbosch complex. The SSH& says it makes a balance between safety, green maintenance, and nature conservation.

‘Leaf blowers are harmful to people and the environment. They cause noise pollution, deteriorate air quality, kill insects, and ruin soil life’. This is how Joyce Haringa’s petition on petitions.nl starts, calling on the SSH& to stop using leaf blowers around student complexes.

The final straw for Haringa was when she was working with her boyfriend in his studio in the Mariënbosch complex and they were disturbed by leaf blowers. ‘It caused a lot of inconvenience and made me really angry’, says Haringa. ‘I could report it to the SSH&, but I don’t think there’s much chance of them doing anything about it. That’s why I started a petition. If it gets signed a lot, it might give more weight to the appeal.’

Ecosystem

Besides the disturbing noise for residents, Haringa is concerned about the effect on nature when the leaves are blown away. ‘Leaf blowers disrupt the ecosystem and chase away insects and other animals that live under the leaves’, says Haringa.

At Mariënbosch it is mainly about clearing away the leaves on the raised grass dike. Haringa: ‘I understand that they are clearing the paths, but why the grass dike? You could also ask why they mow the grass so often.’

Haringa herself lives in an SSH& townhouse where garden maintenance is carried out twice a year, including leaf blowers. ‘While in our front garden we have a root canvas with pebbles on it.’

Unsafe

Moniek Bens, housing manager of SSH&, says that the landlord has to weigh up safety, maintenance and the effects on nature. ‘We have to take the residents into account. They want a clean living environment and it must not become unsafe with slippery footpaths. The company that does the garden maintenance for us sometimes leaves leaves and sometimes removes them, using leaf blowers or rakes. The grass can rot if you leave it there too long. At the edge of the woods we do leave them.’

Meanwhile, Haringa hopes that the petition will receive more signatures; the counter now stands at 86. In conversations, she notices that her exasperation is shared. However, the momentum will only return in the autumn when the falling leaves can be blown away again.