Sheffield could soon have ‘greener’ grass verges planted with wildflowers and trees
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Sheffield City Council will also turn a blind eye to small-scale planting or decoration of verges to stop people parking on them if councillors agree a new policy at a meeting of the waste and street scene policy committee tomorrow, Wednesday (February 15).
A report to the committee says that contractor Amey looks after 2.8 million square metres of grass verges on behalf of the council.
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Hide AdIt adds: “On some roads, parking is at a premium as Sheffield’s housing stock and verges were constructed when most people didn’t own a car. Some communities are keen to invest in new street trees to provide shading and new ecology whilst others value wildflowers or the traditional look of regular mowing.”
Up to now, residents who want to plant up verges outside their homes have to get a special licence from the council and hold public liability insurance.
In future, the council’s local area committees or councillors would be able to fund wildflower verges in locations agreed with residents and the council’s highways maintenance division to ensure that road safety is not compromised.
Relaxed approach
The cost charged by Amey would range from £4.51 to £28.69 per square metre.
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Hide AdAlthough verges cannot be transitioned to growing wildflowers on a ‘piecemeal’ basis, says the report, it is proposed that the council will take a relaxed approach to low-level planting or decoration of verges by residents. This includes any wildflower planting.
The report adds: “However, any significant structures or intrusion into the soil will result in action where this presents health and safety risks and/or liability issues for the council.”
Permission will still be needed to use barrel planters to discourage parking on verges.
Working with the non-profit organisation Trees for Streets (https://www.treesforstreets.org/), the council has identified a web platform for residents to make requests for additional street tree planting in their community. This will just involve sticking a pin on an interactive map.
The site also allows users to organise crowdfunding to pay for the trees.