Burnley council lets grass grow - to create wildlife havens

The scheme, which will save the council around £70,000, involves some of the towns’ parks, playing fields, grass verges and slopes.

But critics have slammed the cost-cutting measure and said the towns will look like a ‘jungle’.

Council officers are mowing the edges of the new ‘meadows’ but leave the rest of the grass untouched for the rest of the summer. Town hall chiefs claim the action is being taken to encourage bees, butterflies and birds into urban areas and reduce CO2 emissions.

But Daneshouse with Stoneyholme councillor Shah Hussain said certain areas were starting to resemble a ‘jungle’ and making it difficult for children to play there.

The Labour councillor said: "I was coming along Marsden Road from Nelson the other day and the area opposite the houses looks terrible.

“At gateways to the town it should look respectable.

"I understand about greenhouse gases but when the grass grows it looks a mess.

“In Stoneyholme at the old Ridgewood School site the playground there is overgrown with grass and children keep asking me what is going on.

“The county council and borough council are not taking responsibility. With the school holidays here, young people need spaces to play.”

Grassed areas in Burnley Wood, Ightenhill and Padiham, as well as a number of other locations, have not been cut since before the start of spring.

The launch of the scheme, dubbed 'Meadow Management', comes as Burnley Council seeks to make savings of £2million as a result of Government funding cuts.

Coun Howard Baker, deputy Labour leader, said: “We are trying to get pride back in the town and we are not going to do it like this.

"My first thought was that this scheme was a way of saving money and not what they have said about the environment.

“They seem to be strimming one strip around the edge of the grassed areas and then leaving the main bit fallow, to grow wild.

“I think it looks terrible and makes the area look uncared for.

“I’ll be interested to see if Towneley Park is left fallow. If this is being done to reduce greenhouse gases then surely the same logic would apply to Towneley?.”

Coun Wajid Khan said: “I think we need to present Burnley as the natural and beautiful place that it is.

“Having schemes which oppose this view by making Burnley look untidy will not help attract people to the town."

Mick Cartledge, Burnley’s director of community services, said the reductions in vehicles, fuel and staffing costs will save around £68,000.

But Simon Goff, the local authority’s head of green spaces and amenities, said the main objective was to reduce the borough’s carbon footprint.

He said: “By managing more of Burnley’s green spaces as meadows we are create new habitats for wildlife, helping to reduce our CO2 emissions and we are also reducing the costs of maintaining Burnley’s green spaces.

“We know that the public want to see more wildlife in Burnley’s green spaces and would prefer the council to save money by reducing mowing rather than making savings in other services we provide, such as children’s play areas, sports facilities and town centre floral displays.

“By managing more of our green spaces as meadows we can achieve both of these.”