Southwark Council has started mowing parks and open spaces twenty per cent less, to encourage wildlife growth and cut carbon emissions.
Some local residents have expressed concern that green areas around trees and on the edges of parks are being left to grow longer. But the council’s park management team said the new policy could lead to “an explosion of wildlife and nature”.
Will Walpole, Southwark’s parks manager, said: “People are emailing and asking why we’ve not cut the grass, some are not best pleased. However, I explain that leaving areas of grass to grow is proven to encourage wildflower growth, which brings more butterflies, bees and birds”.
Many local authorities in London and across the UK are mowing less like Southwark, to encourage wildlife to flourish in urban spaces. Several London councils, including Southwark, Wandsworth and Ealing, took part in a campaign called No Mow May this year, run by charity Plantlife.
The council is adamant that despite the new policy, its parks are not “descending into chaos”. Officers say that they are maintaining a careful balance between encouraging wildlife and keeping the parks usable and convenient.
Cllr Catherine Rose, cabinet member for transport, parks and sport, said: “Most of us have early memories of local parks and a connection to how they have looked during our lifetime. We can also remember enjoying playgrounds, learning to ride a bike, walking the dog, family picnics and many more activities in these much-loved open spaces.
“Southwark has a proud heritage in park design, tree protection, horticulture and bio-diversity, extending across the past two centuries. Rewilding is an evolutionary part of the development of our parks for the 21st century. It responds to the real need to better protect and increase wildlife and nature. Done well and balanced with the many other roles our parks play, rewilding can be a visual and bio-diverse feast. We are custodians for generations to come. Far from letting our parks go, we’re simply letting them grow.”