Parishes sign up for roadside wildflower transformation
AN ambitious plan to transform roadside verges into wildflower areas across the county is continuing to gather pace.
Around 60 parish councils have now signed up to the county councilrun-scheme, which involves volunteers giving up their time to restore the verges, including the sowing of native wildflower seeds and learning about the local wildlife within these important habitats.
The initiative, a partnership with local wildlife charities NatureSpot and British Hedgehog Preservation Society, aims to improve biodiversity and encourage wildlife, with verges being allowed to flourish between April and August, as wildflowers and grasses reach maturity and provide local species with food and habitat.
The initiative forms part of the council’s wider work to tackle climate change, including fresh proposals to make Leicestershire a net zero carbon county by 2045.
Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, county council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We hope to create biodiverse habitats through this initiative allowing wildlife to flourish.
“The responses from parishes have been really encouraging and we’d love to see more of them get involved.
“Conserving our natural environment is a really important part of the council’s work as we play our part in tackling climate change and encouraging others to join us.”
The county now has its highest number of designated wildflower
We hope to create biodiverse habitats through this initiative allowing wildlife to flourish Cllr O’Shea
verges:
Over 70 verges across all parishes Approximately 37 thousand square metres of grass verge has been marked by the council to be managed differently by volunteers – this area is comparable to the size of Enderby
Last year, NatureSpot recorded over 519 species across 11 new verges around the county.
With the recorded species belonging to different wildlife groups including wildflowers, grasses, and insects.
Expressions of interest for the 2023 scheme will be open from July to September this year. Parish councils interested in joining the scheme can contact the council’s environment team at: environmentteam@ leics.gov.uk.
The annual programme of grass cutting has started across Leicestershire and residents can check when their grass will be cut on the county council’s map: www.leicestershire. gov.uk/grass-cutting