MOWERS are being put away to allow wildlife to thrive in a rewilding project.
Last year, Wivenhoe Town Council found 141 different wildflower species from leaving 15 verges and green spaces around the town unmown for six months from March until September.
No Mow May is a scheme, supported by the council, which sees areas left to grow during the month of May.
Wivenhoe takes the scheme further with the green spaces project with more spaces being left natural this year with the hopes of helping and bringing more wildlife into the area.
The project is expanding as more areas are now being left to grow across the Colchester area as well as just Wivenhoe.
Will Quince, Colchester’s MP, said: “No Mow May is a great initiative to help pollinators and insects.
“However there is always a balance to strike and residents living near verges and green spaces must be consulted by the council to ensure a balance between aesthetic appearance, practical use of green space (such as children playing football) and the desire to enhance biodiversity.”
The reaction from residents last year was said to have been fantastic and most people were in support of the project.
A spokesperson for Colchester Council said: “We would always encourage residents to do as much as they can to nurture pollinators and boost diversity, and No Mow May is a simple and effective way of doing so."
Colchester Council updated its grass-cutting regime and now has ten areas changed from once every three weeks to once at the end of the growing season, around mid-autumn.
A council spokesman said: "A further 14 areas left to naturalise to encourage wildflower growth and help develop the area for invertebrates such as bees, butterflies and moths.”
Mark Halladay, a resident and volunteer for Wivenhoe’s Green Spaces project, said: "We've been trying hard to help the wildflowers and the insects in Wivenhoe for the last couple of years.
“This year the town council have gone even further and left unmown some of their more public areas to support No Mow May. Great credit to them."
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