Wildlife trail set to blossom throughout the county

Areas in Sileby, Mountsorrel and Birstall are involved

A COUNTY council scheme is set to blossom thanks to a trial that will see wildflowers and wildlife flourish on roadside verges across Leicestershire.

The Urban Wildlife Verge Project will aim to improve biodiversity and encourage wildlife. It forms part of the authority’s wider work to tackle climate change and commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

The council has been working alongside parish councils, giving them the opportunity to turn urban roadside verges into dedicated wildflower verges.

A total of 12 parish councils signed-up to take part in the project, which will involve volunteers giving up their time to make a difference in their community by weeding, planting seeds and developing areas of wildflowers at identified locations in the county.

Areas included in the project are Brook Street in Sileby, Granite Way/Leicester Road in Mountsorrel and Greengate Lane in Birstall.

Coun Trevor Pendleton, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We take our climate and environmental responsibilities seriously. This trial will help to introduce new areas that will be managed differently to encourage growth of a range of wildflowers and provide habitats for wildlife to thrive.”

The county council began its annual grass-cutting programme on rural verges earlier this month.

Currently only grass in rural areas where it impacts on road user’s visibility at junctions and on bends will be cut to ensure highway safety.

The council, which maintains nearly 3.8million square metres of urban grass in residential areas, began cutting these verges on May 4.

Coun Pendleton added: “We reviewed our highways work due to COVID-19 and initially delayed our urban grass cuts as they are primarily for aesthetic rather than safety reasons. In line with further government guidance and our social distancing practices, we are now in a position to carry out our urban grass-cutting operations as well as the rural visibility splays at junctions.

“We will review our current approach regularly to make sure we’re working safely and maintaining social distancing.

“At the moment, we can’t specify cutting dates for individual areas and therefore unfortunately can’t respond to individual queries. Thank you for your patience and understanding while our staff work hard to cut the grass across the county.”