The town of Conception Bay South says a staffing shortage is behind a delay in maintenance of parks, sports and other recreational fields in the town.

One resident took to Facebook to express his dismay over the overgrown condition of one field in particular. Pictures show the field overgrown with weeds, flowers and high grass.

The town issued a public notice yesterday indicating that it has received a number of concerns regarding overgrown grass throughout a variety of recreational spaces.

The town says recent changes to its collective agreement resulted in what it calls “a significant movement of staff within the organization” resulting in a staff shortage.

Recreational and leisure services labour is at about a quarter of its usual capacity. The town says with a full complement of staff it usually takes about three and a half weeks to maintain their 60 parks, playgrounds and greenspaces, and with the staffing shortage, there have been significant delays.

CBS is now hiring new staff members and they expect to have all playgrounds and fields done by Tuesday of next week.