Elected Member Briefing - Grow Wild for Perth and Kinross

About this Briefing Note

Report by: Andy Clegg, Community Greenspace Manager

Date: 12 April 2024 

Subject: Grassland management trial update

Responsible Officer: Lesley Ann Cassidy, Community Greenspace and Paul Garden, Direct Services

Details

Purpose

To provide an update on the extension of the previous grassland management trials following the policy approved at the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee on 31 May 2023 Grassland Trials and the budget decisions on 28 February 2024 for Grounds Maintenance over the next three financial years. 

Briefing information

Following on from the overall success of the grassland management trials undertaken in 2021/22 and 22/23 on 42 sites, the trials are being extended over the next 3 years. This will allow the development of a long-term action plan to support the long grass approach on more sites across Perth and Kinross, potentially covering 1,700 of the 1,900 sites the Council currently maintain. A report setting out the long-term plan will be brought to a future meeting of the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee. 

The extension of the trials will: 

• be known as 'Grow Wild for Perth and Kinross' with most sites the Council manage having some areas of uncut grass predominantly on steeper banks, around the margins and under groups of trees. 
• ensure all "uncut" areas will have mown edges and paths mown through the larger areas to retain access for enjoyment of the spaces and cease chemical weed control or grass cutting around trees and obstacles. 
• ensure the grass is cut on areas such as sports pitches, formal and informal play areas, picnic areas, events spaces and paths for active recreation.  
• cease chemical use for sports pitch marking whilst enabling sports clubs and schools to reline their own pitches utilising marker dowels. 
• identify how the maintenance changes could be implemented to match the resources available to meet the budget savings targets and utilise new specialist grass cutting machinery, funded through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), to better manage some longer grass areas. 
• allow areas containing weeds such as thistles, docks and nettles to be treated, if considered a significant problem based on the nature and location of the site. 
• maximise opportunities for community groups to develop their own 'cut and lift' grass areas by utilising hand operated flails purchased by the Council.  
• assist communities in enhancing sites through planting wildflower 'plugs', more pollinator plants and trees including fruit trees, working in conjunction with the Council's plant nursery at Westbank. 
• include a comprehensive communications plan including ward Councillor and Community Council briefings, use of online and social media platforms and more informative site signage and mapping to show what is being done where. 
• involve continued cross-team working within the Council, with Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust and the staff Biodiversity Ambassadors to enable more coordinated monitoring, as well as better links with other biodiversity and climate change initiatives and engagement activities. 

Adopting this approach will help the Council and communities make a positive contribution to tackling climate change and the loss of biodiversity as supported by the Council's Climate Change Action Plan. The trials have already demonstrated that reducing grass cutting can help reduce carbon emissions, provide more biodiverse and interesting open spaces which can improve physical and mental wellbeing, whilst also reducing maintenance costs. Biodiversity can be increased by creating habitats for birds, insects, and small mammals, which do not exist in regularly cut grass. This helps to create 'nature networks' within unused areas of amenity spaces creating 'stepping stones' for pollinators and other wildlife.  

Community engagement is key to this, helping the Council to identify local opportunities and constraints so the right balance is achieved in their areas within the overall policy approach. It is unlikely that there will be universal agreement to the changes but the principles of what is being done must remain for the greater good. In expanding the trials, we will work with communities and the network of 118 local volunteer groups already supported by Community Greenspace wherever possible. They will be encouraged to undertake bulb, wildflower and pollinator shrub planting and be trained to use the 'cut and lift' machinery which they could borrow from the Council or buy with the assistance of grant aid. Many 'bloom' groups are already involved in these activities, transitioning from the more traditional floral approach.  

To reflect the agreed grounds maintenance savings over the next 3 financial years, expansion of the trial areas will be focussed in Perth and the 'landward areas' (wards 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12) for 2024/25. The timing of the budget decisions and start of the grass cutting season means it will not be possible to consult widely before the changes are implemented. However, containing it within a smaller geographic area will allow more focussed management of the changes, more flexibility to reflect local needs and involve the communities affected. A list of the trial sites will be put on the Council's webpages and sent to Community Councils and other key stakeholders such as Bloom and Biodiversity groups. Example plans will show the changes for typical sites within the ward area e.g. large parks, play areas, amenity open spaces, local and neighbourhood parks and sports pitches as shown in Appendix 1. Implementation will also be linked to wider messaging about climate change and biodiversity e.g. the national 'No Mow May' where everyone is encouraged to leave grass uncut. There will also be a requirement for a proportional reduction in winter maintenance works, primarily leaf clearing and shrub pruning beginning in October 2024 which will also be communicated.