Frequently Asked Questions

• Who manages the verges?

  Parks and Open Space and Highways manage the grasslands on road verges, parks and within residential areas.

   

  For more information and advice on managing grasslands on privately owned land and non-local authority owned spaces (i.e. community councils) get in touch with the Vale Local Nature Partnership.

• Is this just a cost-cutting exercise?

  Evidence from other counties does show that there can be cost savings but there also needs to be investment in machinery as the programme is rolled out across the Vale. The primary motivation is to respond to the nature emergency by doing as much as we can to make the Vale more attractive for wildlife and for people. 

• Will road safety be compromised?

  No, safety always comes first, which means some areas will be regularly mown as visibility splays and all areas will be monitored and reviewed in conjunction with our Highways Team.

• Won’t it look untidy?

  Nature by definition isn’t neat!

   

  However, we believe that we should be doing all we can to support pollinators and other wildlife. We will maintain ‘edge cuts’ on some of the areas, where paths and road edges meet to maintain a neat appearance.

• Can I plant wildflower seeds in my community?

  Species found in commercial seed packets are often of unknown origin and can contain non-native species including garden cultivars which do not naturally occur in the UK, let alone the Vale of Glamorgan.

   

  Our aim is to keep the wild in wildflower as non-native species can displace native wildflowers that are already present in the seedbank, eroding distinctiveness and natural genetic variation of our local flora.

   

  If after two-three years of management through cut-and-collect, areas are showing no signs of increasing wildflower diversity, we will consider enhancing the verge using locally sourced wildflower seed, green hay or plug plants grown on from locally sourced seed.

• Why have the wildflowers in an area of my community been mown?

   ‘Making Space for Wildlife’ is a new scheme that was developed in 2022. We are progressively adding sites over to our new management scheme and we may be unaware of the area. 

• Can I suggest an additional site to include in the scheme?

  Of course! Please get in touch via email: biodiversity@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk. Please bear in mind that there are restrictions which may prevent the area from being included in the scheme, including safety or amenity reasons. Additionally, we are only able to include local authority owned land.