First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) is cutting back on grass cutting in selected areas to help give local nature and wildlife a boost.
The organisation is increasing these so-called ‘no mow zones’ by 25% over the summer. The initiative complements the national No Mow May drive that encourages households not to cut the grass to help wildlife.
The selected zones will be in Chadderton, Waterhead, Oldham town centre neighbourhoods, Royton, Sholver and Werneth. The area – equivalent to around three football pitches – will see 12,500m2 of grass left unmown until the end of the growing season in October, up from 10,000m2 last year.
Other grass cutting will continue as normal in other parts of the neighbourhoods.
David Wrigley, FCHO’s head of neighbourhood care, said: “Less is very much going to mean more as this summer we’re changing the way we work in certain areas to help our native flowers, our pollinators and the wildlife that likes the grass to be long.
“Everything we can do to help biodiversity should be done and I know many of our customers have told us they support this simple but effective way to help.
“We hope everyone will benefit from seeing more native flowers and increased insects and wildlife in the places that are not mown. The sites will still be visited and checked throughout the cutting season.”
FCHO is also working with the National Trust on a range of green projects to improve communities, including the Sky Garden Challenge.
Over the past three years, the housing association has introduced 20,000m2 of natural meadows, wildflower plots and native flower zones across the borough to provide important habitat for nature and tackle climate change.
Image credit: Rudy and Peter Skitterians/Pixabay
Read next: Platform Housing leads on pay gap transparency and equity
Are you a social housing professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.
