1.Has your council heard of the scheme ‘No Mow May’? (designed by the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife?)
Yes.
2. Has Devon County Council (DCC) implemented this scheme?
Yes
3. If so, how?
No Mow May is taken forward in a number of ways:
Highways – DCC only cuts road verges where it is essential to do so for health and safety reasons e.g. visibility splays. DCC’s Life on the Verge Scheme supports local communities to take on the management of verges for the benefit of biodiversity.
Estates – Areas of County Hall grounds are managed for spring bulbs / wildflowers with no cut taking place in May. Only two, out of a choice of grass cutting regimes in our corporate grounds maintenance contract include a cut in May where it is considered that amenity grassland needs to be maintained e.g. the cricket pitch at County Hall.
4. Has the scheme been promoted?
Yes
5. If so, how?
DCC leads the Devon Local Nature Partnership which has promoted No Mow May through social media channels in the past and will be doing the same again this year. We also continue to promote wildlife-friendly grassland management through our Wild About Devon and Get Devon Buzzing initiatives. We are organising a webinar for Parish and Town Councils in April which will be discussing cutting regimes in the run up to No Mow May.
6. If you haven’t implemented the scheme – did you consider it and what were your reasons for not doing so?
Not applicable