River of flowers plan for York

A ‘river of flowers’ could be created on grass verges in York.

Councillor Michael Pavlovic has suggested colourful wildflowers could be planted alongside roads – a move he says would increase biodiversity, save the council money on mowing the grass and make residents smile.

He said he has been asking people about trialling the idea on Hull Road and Field Lane.

And if the flowers prove popular, he hopes it could be rolled out to areas alongside the city walls and in areas where parking on grass verges is a problem.

Cllr Pavlovic said:

• It could be an inventive way to increase biodiversity, particularly since the council called a climate emergency, as well as making people smile and feel happy.

  This would build on our initiative to plant 150,000 daffodils and other bulbs in this area, which has gone down very well with residents.
  The great thing about this idea is it provides colour as different flowers blossom from March right through until November.
  

A little fairy toadflax

Rotherham Metropolitan Council installed an eight mile-long wildflower meadow on the central reservations of the town’s main ring road, which helped save the local authority £23,000 over two years because it reduced the level of maintenance required.

Cllr Pavlovic added that he believes the idea could garner support from all political parties in York and that the next step is to launch a public consultation to find out what residents think about the idea.

Fellow Hull Road ward councillor Aisling Musson said: “Having wildflower verges could really improve the look and feel of the area and as we know from the daffodil planting, a bit of colour really brightens the place up and brings a smile to people’s faces.

“I’m sure the same would be true with a little fairy toadflax or some red poppies by the side of the road. But we hope initially to find the political will on the council to explore this idea before fully consulting residents on what they think.”