Verges being allowed to go back to nature

COUNCILLORS have voted unanimously to increase biodiversity in the area’s road verges and open spaces by leaving them to grow wild.

During a virtual meeting of Derbyshire Dales District Council on Thursday members agreed to create a working group to investigate and pursue the potential to increase biodiversity in its green spaces to benefit wildlife.

A group will investigate and trial changing the management of urban road verges that already have some wildlife interest to increase the number of species and the population of wildflowers. A trial to create a network of “wildflower verges” will also be carried out.

During the Zoom meeting, which can be seen on the authority’s YouTube channel, director of Community and Environmental Services, Ash Watts, stressed this would be a collaborative project using “the wealth of experience among members” and working with town and parish councils and bodies such as Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

He said that as well as road verges, the project would focus on parks and open spaces in the district, creating “wildlife corridors” and educational messages and information with help from local schools. A key aim will be to raise awareness of these verges to Dales residents and to ask for their help in identifying verges rich in wildflowers.

Matlock councillor Martin Burfoot said: “This topic has long been close to the top of my agenda while witnessing many hectares of verges and public open space owned and managed by both county and district councils being relentlessly mown week after week, month after month through the summer.

“Until this year, and I can honestly say it’s the only thing you can say ‘thanks to the Covid pandemic and lockdown’ that so many areas have been left unmown for many weeks. A change in public as well as officer and member perception is needed since we’re all accustomed to seeing closemown, pristine open space and we get residents urging us to make sure that all these areas are mown like bowling greens.

“They are what I call landscape deserts, especially around so many of our housing developments and even school grounds.”

The meeting heard that the UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s.