Northumberland County Council is looking at ways to protect grass verges.

It follows a visit to Whitley Chapel C of E First School by Council Leader Glen Sanderson, where pupils showed him the wildflowers on the nearby verge they are protecting and their importance for the environment. 
 

The school, with help from the Slaley, Healey and Hexhamshire Community Environmental Group, has taken ownership of protecting a verge nearby and, thanks to funding from the Council’s Northumberland Climate Change Fund, has been able to set up a free wildflower identification training event for budding and experienced botanists alike. 
 

As well as providing funding for the project, the Council has provided signs to be erected at the site to protect the wildflowers from being cut while in full bloom. The scheduled second cut will happen as normal once the flowers have seeded.   
 

Council Leader Glen Sanderson said: “There has been a lot of talk in the community about the mowing of our verges and I wanted to see first-hand the benefits they bring to our environment.  
 

“I was extremely impressed by the work in Whitley Chapel and the sheer enthusiasm of all the children who are clearly passionate about their local area and have a keen interest in environmental issues. 
 

“While there is a need to cut verges for road safety reasons, protecting the natural environment is something very close to my heart and I will be exploring ways the Council can further protect these corridors for nature.” 
 

At the event participants learned about the nature of verges from the North Pennines AONB (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) who discussed their relevance in terms of biodiversity, valuable nectar sources for pollinators and their importance as linear corridors for invertebrates and small mammals. Participants gained practical training which included visiting verges in Hexhamshire, Slaley and Healey. 
 

In some verges over 50 wildflowers were identified and recorded from just the leaves and there was a large variation of diversity between sites.  

Christopher Porter, Chair of the Community Environmental Group said: “Verges are a vital part of our countryside and support a wide variety of insect and animal connectivity and they are being threatened due to building, development and indiscriminate cutting. 
 

“I wanted to invite Councillor Sanderson down to Whitely Chapel so that he could see the work we are doing to protect our natural landscape and highlight the support we have received from the Council in helping us to do so. 
 

“During the event a passerby asked us what we were doing which led to conversations about farming and the environment, which is fantastic as the purpose of the event was to communicate the importance of protecting our verges. 
 

“There is a real need for more environmental understanding, and I would like to thank Councillor Sanderson for taking the time to come and visit.” 

Watch the video here.