Meet the robots changing the way Waitaki works

Published on 02 October 2026

Green By Nature has a robotic line painter now and because it’s a clever wee contraption, it remembers where it’s been and what it’s done.

That means its staff no longer need to put chemicals into it to burn the lines into the ground, and of course, that means soil health is not impacted and remains much better.

Regan George used to do it all by hand and it took him “friggin’ ages” – all 18 fields would need a touch-up at some stage, with the ‘active’ sport needing done every two weeks.

“Winter is our biggest line-marking time. So, week one you do all the rugby grounds, week two you do all the soccer grounds, and so on, unless there's a high-profile game and something and then the chase would line mark twice.

“You could have the rugby league tournament, which means we've got to green out the rugby marks, put the rugby league marks down and then green out them and put the rugby (lines) back for the next game.”

David Welton said that when the machine’s working, it saves hundreds of hours. “When it’s working perfectly, it’s a Godsend.”

They also have a big robotic mower that can cut down on some of the workload.

The robot is designed to mow non-conventional areas, like hills. While a staff member still needs to operate the machine by remote, it saves time, gets into tighter spaces and, most importantly, helps keep employees away from the riskier jobs.

Things that may have taken three hours before are being done in 45 minutes to an hour now. It probably does around 10 hours a week on average, and David says it’s in saving labour and improving safety that you can count the cost.

“In saying that, it's still not perfect, like we've still got to do edges, it can't just flip out a weed, brush cutter or a weed eater it or cut the edges as it's going.”

And there's definitely a craft behind perfect turf. Council engages a third party to test the soil, identifying missing nutrients before the Green by Nature team carries out the treatment.

Right now, spring renovations are under way. These can include decompacting the soil using a big machine with spikes after rugby season, the goal posts being ripped out, fertiliser being put on and, of course, the ever-needy grass.

And David says it takes a lot of skill to get those stripes pristinely straight, like Uncle Waldorf’s pinstriped suit.

“I personally don’t have the patience to do a fine pristine square cut and roll it like Regan does, so the skills and patience must be quite high because the finished product looks fantastic.

“I’ve jumped on a machine and tried to cut nice lines down the OPG croquet lawn. It starts off good and then I must have dodged a pinecone or something …”

Regan is very passionate about turf, anything turf, and the team rely on him for this expertise. It’s a bonus that he is an avid sports person from Ōamaru. He’s played cricket for many years, and he knows the ground he wants to play on.

And David knows how lucky he is to have Regan on his team.

ENDS

media@waitaki.govt.nz