Cheshire East Council is inviting people to have their say on proposals for how green spaces are maintained – including plans that would support wildlife to flourish.
A consultation was launched on 16th October on a draft policy which introduces a maintenance framework for Cheshire East’s green spaces, including parks, sports playing fields, cemeteries, and green spaces within housing estates.
The policy proposes how and when each type of site will be maintained – such as how often grass is mowed, and shrubs and hedges are cut back – so that there is a consistent standard across the borough.
It would deliver opportunities to allow areas to naturally develop into scrubland as a form of rewilding and to enhance areas of no-mow, supporting biodiversity and the council’s pledge to make Cheshire East a carbon neutral borough by 2045.
As part of the consultation, the council is also seeking views on the recommendations from a review which identified more than 400 parcels of land the council is currently maintaining but is not registered as owning.
The council is proposing to classify these sites under three categories, including maintaining specific sites in line with the draft maintenance policy, and giving registered landowners and relevant town councils the option to fund continued maintenance activity.
The consultation runs until 24 November and can be accessed online.
Those taking part will be able to read the draft green spaces maintenance standards policy in full. They will also be able to view and lookup any specific sites and find out the proposed maintenance categorisation for these.
The maintenance policy – which only relates to the parcels of land maintained by the council’s environmental services company Ansa – is required to deliver essential savings included in the council’s adopted medium-term financial strategy.
The council is reporting financial pressures of £12.8m against its 2023/24 budget. Savings have already been identified to reduce this from £26.6m.
The feedback from the consultation will be reviewed before final proposals are developed. A further report will be presented back to committee for a decision to implement the proposals, which is expected to be in February 2024.
Subject to committee’s approval, the new policies would be in place from April 2024.
Anyone wishing to receive the survey or consultation material in an alternative format, or to submit their feedback in a different way, can do this by emailing or calling 0300 123 55 00.
