Ashby de la Zouch Town Councillor, TOM STANLEY, writes a monthly environmental column for Nub News, and explains why three grassy areas of the town will remain uncut over the next few weeks as part of a new trial.

Ashby de la Zouch Town Council is aiming to encourage increased biodiversity through a new trial. The council's parks team is following advice from charity Nature Spot and Leicestershire County Council with an amended annual cycle of grass growing and cutting at three trial sites.

The trial areas have been identified across the town, with these being part of the Bath Grounds near to the Bowling Club, the area bordering the Gilwiskaw Brook in Hood Park and the grass at the end of Knights Close.

If the trial is a success, there is potential to expand next year. Councillor Liz Parle, chair of Ashby Town Council's Parks & Cemetery committee said: "We are trialling a change to how we manage these grass areas and will be monitoring what happens in order to plan for future years."

The amended cutting regime will see the trial areas uncut from now until mid-July, before cutting resumes through until mid-October.

The grass will then be left over Winter until mid-February, when it will be cut again until early April.

Grasslands support a huge range of biodiversity both plants and animals.

For example, longer grass provides an essential resource for Moths and Butterflies.

While Flowering Clover provides valuable food for Bumblebees. This new approach being trialled by the Town Council aims to balance supporting that life, whilst also managing the grass.

In less than 100 years, approximately 97 per cent of wildflower meadows have been eradicated across the country.

This has moved once widespread plants like Ragged Robin and Field Scabious on to the Near Threatened List in England.

Indeed, we can help improve biodiversity in our own gardens by leaving just a small corner or strip of lawn to grow longer for a month or longer.

With an estimated 23 million gardens across the UK, the potential benefit to the environment, if this were replicated across the country, would be huge.