SOCIAL Farms and Gardens, the charity supporting communities to farm, garden and grow together, is working with Gwynedd Council to support the management of verges and other public green spaces as meadow habitat.

This is to empower communities to take control of their public green spaces so they are better connected for nature and people.

The call-out is part of the “Greener Corridors and Spaces” strand of their £1.27million Resilient Green Spaces project.

On the verges outside towns and villages, Gwynedd Council has changed its cutting regime to follow guidance by conservation specialists when it is practically possible and safe to do so.

They are also cutting a ‘visibility strip’ of 1m more regularly – which makes the verges look cared for and is also important for safety.

But within towns and villages, the cutting regime is different – cutting happens much more often to allow people to safely walk on the verges and because it looks tidier.

Catrin Wager, Gwynedd Council cabinet member for highways and municipal matters, said: “Protecting our county's special environment and species is so important.

“By changing the way we manage roadside growth, we can have a positive impact on biodiversity.

“Roadside verges can act as corridors of important habitats to support all types of creatures; from small mammals to bees and butterflies.

“The council introduced positive changes to the way roadside verges are treated some years ago, and this project is a further step in our efforts to promote biodiversity on our roadsides.”

There are some verges and other green spaces in communities that are suitable for managing for wildlife.

Interested community sites or organisations based in Gwynedd can find further information on the Social Farms & Gardens website at: www.farmgarden.org.uk/resilient-green-spaces/greener-corridors-and-spaces, or by contacting the workstream leads: sarah@farmgarden.org.uk, or hywynwilliams@gwynedd.llyw.cymru.