Wildflowers

[andrewbowden]

good business for local pharmacies too, they'll sell more anti-histamines

You'll never guess what the big problems are for summertime hayfever...

Well you might but I will pretend you won't for the purposes of effect.

Grass pollen.
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/immune-system/hay-fever

Mowing grass causes problems as it disrupts the pollen.

[jimblob]

And not cut grass verges even if they are outside our property .

good business for local pharmacies too, they'll sell more anti-histamines

[amazon]

I'm not sure what your point is in picking out lowest number in the report. It's not just a financial benefit to us, it's the benefits to wildlife such as bees and pollinators which are suffering from lost of their natural habitats. We need to encourage these little creatures and the more natural space for them, the better.

And not cut grass verges even if they are outside our property .

[Howard]

quote from the BBC article...
A slightly more modest £150 was the estimated saving made by Nottinghamshire County Council during last year's pilot.
The authority said this was because its mowing teams still needed to visit each of the six locations to trim back sections affecting motorist visibility.

I'm not sure what your point is in picking out lowest number in the report. It's not just a financial benefit to us, it's the benefits to wildlife such as bees and pollinators which are suffering from lost of their natural habitats. We need to encourage these little creatures and the more natural space for them, the better.

[jimblob]

I can well imagine though that some jobs-worth at the council will cite wild flowers as reducing visiblity at a junction and they'll then turn up with a strimmer and hack the stuff back or have to install some additional "safety" measures at the junction at a significant cost in order to mitigate the new risk.

quote from the BBC article...
A slightly more modest £150 was the estimated saving made by Nottinghamshire County Council during last year's pilot.
The authority said this was because its mowing teams still needed to visit each of the six locations to trim back sections affecting motorist visibility.

[Howard]

Here's an article from the BBC on the wildflower movement:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-48772448

[jimblob]

Your such a negative person allways moaning about sumat  [ and its ment to be spelt like that ]

I won't even deign to put my grammar police hat on for this one!
If you perhaps noticed, my opening gambit was that I agreed with the idea and thought it was a good one, merely pointing out that Stockport council (and history tells us this) might well find something they don't like about the idea and find reason to stop it dead in its tracks.
You might have also noted that as a fan of grass verges and our public realm, I spend my own time and money (on top of the not insignificant amount of council tax I pay, that Stockport seem to waste on so many things we don't need but fail to spend on the basics) maintaining the grass verge outside my house, thereby enhancing the public realm.

... sorry, I can't help myself...

You're, not your
Always, not allways
meant, not ment.

[amazon]

I don't disagree
I can well imagine though that some jobs-worth at the council will cite wild flowers as reducing visiblity at a junction and they'll then turn up with a strimmer and hack the stuff back or have to install some additional "safety" measures at the junction at a significant cost in order to mitigate the new risk.
Have to say though, having spent money on grass seed and feed as well as regularly mowing the grass verge outside my own house, I'll be annoyed if it gets seeded with wild flowers.

Your such a negative person allways moaning about sumat  [ and its ment to be spelt like that ]

[Steve Gribbon]

I don't disagree
I can well imagine though that some jobs-worth at the council will cite wild flowers as reducing visiblity at a junction and they'll then turn up with a strimmer and hack the stuff back or have to install some additional "safety" measures at the junction at a significant cost in order to mitigate the new risk.
Have to say though, having spent money on grass seed and feed as well as regularly mowing the grass verge outside my own house, I'll be annoyed if it gets seeded with wild flowers.

Hi Jim

The wildflowers we are looking at and have proposed will only grow to 18-24 inches so visibility will not be impaired and cutting will not be required.

If verges are looked after by residents we will be consulting with them before any seed work is (or isn’t) done. We don’t want to cause issues where there is no need to.

Hope this helps

Steve

[jimblob]

I don't disagree
I can well imagine though that some jobs-worth at the council will cite wild flowers as reducing visiblity at a junction and they'll then turn up with a strimmer and hack the stuff back or have to install some additional "safety" measures at the junction at a significant cost in order to mitigate the new risk.
Have to say though, having spent money on grass seed and feed as well as regularly mowing the grass verge outside my own house, I'll be annoyed if it gets seeded with wild flowers.

[andrewbowden]

Had we not spent all our money on speed humps and painting disconnected stretches of cycle lanes, maybe we'd have been able to afford to mow the verges a little more often. We reap what we sow, quite literally in this case.

Even if the council had all the money in the world, this would still be a great initiative.  Flowers look lovely.  They help support bees which are essential to our agriculture.  What's not to love?

[jimblob]

Had we not spent all our money on speed humps and painting disconnected stretches of cycle lanes, maybe we'd have been able to afford to mow the verges a little more often. We reap what we sow, quite literally in this case.

[Steve Gribbon]

Good afternoon all who read this

We (Colin Macalister from Marple South) and I met with our public realm officer today. I was happy to hand over a lot of information regarding costings, the work required and many reasons why this would be of benefit to our area. The public realm officer was very supportive of our cause and is happy to support us, we have offered to meet anybody to push this as quickly as possible. We were both very pleased with how the meeting went. To finish we had a drive around the area highlighting just how badly maintained the verges are at present and how this would stop such bad practice.

I've done a quick video (link is below) on the subject, hopefully it demonstrates what we are after and why.

Comments as always are welcome.

Kind regards

Steve

[ringi]

Other then keeping "view lines" at junctions, it is a great option for next to roads.

Likewise for the grass area next to the "new" river bridge, and the grass by the woods near Marple High School.      It would also look nice in some of our parks, if grass paths were kept.  Eg use a ride on mower to create a few paths into the wild flower areas to access branches etc.

Way not include wildflower seed in the mix that is used to recover from the work on the canal lock?

[amazon]

Thank you for the comments so far, and I will be fine thanks Wheels, I’ve got to try and believe it’s worth the effort.

I’m meeting the public realm officer on Monday, any suggestions for potential sites would be welcome.

Kind regards

Steve

Theres a bit of ground next to ludworth school main entrance its a mess now would be nice some wildflowers there .
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