Winter support
Colchester Borough Council is providing support for residents, businesses and communities throughout winter.
Colchester Borough Council is providing support for residents, businesses and communities throughout winter.
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As part of the Colchester Woodland and Biodiversity project we are doing a number of things to help biodiversity flourish across the borough.
We have changed the grass cutting regime in 10 areas across the borough to encourage greater biodiversity in some of our green spaces, with a further 14 areas being left to naturalise. The cutting regime in these areas has changed from once every 3 weeks to once at the end of the growing season (around mid-autumn). This will encourage wildflower growth and help develop the area for invertebrates such as bees, butterflies and moths.
Changes have been made with the aim of benefitting pollinators and other insects, which are hugely important for lots of things, including the regulation of the natural environment and the food system.
Whilst it may be perceived that ‘weeds’ and long growth of plants and flowers can look unruly, this approach has been adopted by other Councils, and the wildflowers look very visually attractive during the growing season, as well as supporting wildlife and our environment.
Since this reduction in grass cutting has been put in place 18 species of butterfly have been recorded in the areas, which is about a third of all the species found across the country. A large number of bee species have also been identified which is a great result for such a short period of time.
We are working with local school children to help design signage for these areas in a bid to help educate them around the project and importance of looking after and supporting our environment to flourish.
In September 2020 our Environment and Sustainability Panel agreed to end the use of glyphosate-based products for general maintenance by the end of March 2021.
A managed approach to phase out glyphosate use across Colchester’s green spaces has been developed, discussing alternative options and identifying new opportunities to enhance biodiversity.
Since April 2020 the council has already taken several actions to reduce glyphosate use:
The next step is to stop the use of glyphosate-based products across all sports grounds, closed churchyards and Colchester Borough Council managed highway verges.
An exception will be made for the treatment of some invasive species such as Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed, which are a serious threat to biodiversity. With these invasive species, the chemical is safely injected into the plant.
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