diff --git a/pkg/observer/controller.go b/pkg/observer/controller.go
index cf7f30a..c622da6 100644
--- a/pkg/observer/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/observer/controller.go
@@ -2,16 +2,11 @@ package observer
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"errors"
 	"net/http"
 	"sort"
-	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
-	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/api"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promhttp"
-	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
@@ -19,7 +14,6 @@ import (
 	v1 "github.com/atlassian-labs/cyclops/pkg/apis/atlassian/v1"
 	"github.com/atlassian-labs/cyclops/pkg/generation"
 	"github.com/atlassian-labs/cyclops/pkg/k8s"
-	promv1 "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/api/prometheus/v1"
 )
 
 var apiVersion = "undefined" //nolint:golint,varcheck,deadcode,unused
@@ -277,66 +271,6 @@ func (c *controller) dropInProgressNodeGroups(nodeGroups v1.NodeGroupList, cnrs
 	return restingNodeGroups
 }
 
-// get the cluster-autoscaler last scaleUp activity time
-func stringToTime(s string) (time.Time, error) {
-	sec, err := strconv.ParseInt(s, 10, 64)
-	if err != nil {
-		return time.Time{}, err
-	}
-	return time.Unix(sec, 0), nil
-}
-
-// query cluster-autoscaler metrics to figure out if it's safe to start a new CNR
-func (c *controller) safeToStartCycle() bool {
-	client, err := api.NewClient(api.Config{
-		Address: c.PrometheusAddress,
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		// Prometheus might not be installed in the cluster. return true if it can't connect
-		klog.Errorln("Error creating client:", err)
-		return true
-	}
-
-	v1api := promv1.NewAPI(client)
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
-	defer cancel()
-	// scaleDown metric is updated every cycle cluster-autoscaler is checking if the cluster should scaleDown
-	// scaleDown does not get checked and therefore not updated when the cluster is scaling up since no check for scaleDown is needed
-	result, warnings, err := v1api.Query(ctx, "cluster_autoscaler_last_activity{activity='scaleDown'}", time.Now())
-	if err != nil {
-		// cluster-autoscaler might not be installed in the cluster. return true if it can't find the metrics of run the query
-		klog.Errorln("Error querying Prometheus:", err)
-		return true
-	}
-	if len(warnings) > 0 {
-		klog.Errorln("Warnings:", warnings)
-	}
-
-	v := result.(model.Vector)
-	// cluster-autoscaler should always gives a response if it's active
-	if v.Len() == 0 {
-		klog.Errorln("Empty response from prometheus")
-		return true
-	}
-
-	scaleUpTime := v[v.Len()-1].Value.String()
-	t, err := stringToTime(scaleUpTime)
-	if err != nil {
-		klog.Errorln("Error converting the time:", err)
-		return false
-	}
-
-	// cluster_autoscaler_last_activity values will update every PrometheusScrapeInterval in non-scaling scenario
-	lastScaleEvent := time.Since(t)
-	if lastScaleEvent > c.PrometheusScrapeInterval {
-		klog.Infoln("Scale up event recently happened")
-		return false
-	}
-	klog.V(3).Infoln("No scale up event")
-
-	return true
-}
-
 // createCNRs generates and applies CNRs from the changedNodeGroups
 func (c *controller) createCNRs(changedNodeGroups []*ListedNodeGroups) {
 	klog.V(3).Infoln("applying")
@@ -371,26 +305,6 @@ func (c *controller) nextRunTime() time.Time {
 	return time.Now().UTC().Add(c.CheckInterval)
 }
 
-func (c *controller) checkIfSafeToStartCycle() bool {
-	b := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
-	b.MaxElapsedTime = 120 * time.Second
-
-	err := backoff.Retry(func() error {
-		if !c.safeToStartCycle() {
-			klog.Error("Cluster autoscaler scaleUp event in progress. Retry...")
-			return errors.New("cluster-autoscaler event in progress")
-		}
-		return nil
-	}, b)
-
-	if err != nil {
-		klog.Errorln("there are still cluster-autoscaler scaleUp events")
-		return false
-	}
-
-	return true
-}
-
 // Run runs the controller loops once. detecting lock, changes, and applying CNRs
 // implements cron.Job interface
 func (c *controller) Run() {
@@ -420,11 +334,6 @@ func (c *controller) Run() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// query cluster-autoscaler to check if it's safe to start a new CNR
-	if !c.checkIfSafeToStartCycle() {
-		return
-	}
-
 	// wait for the desired amount to allow any in progress changes to batch up
 	klog.V(3).Infof("waiting for %v to allow changes to settle", c.WaitInterval)
 	select {