Wildflower seeds have been sown on the uncut grass verges across Milton Keynes in a bid to boost sustainability.
Milton Keynes Council has left the grass to grow freely on the areas surrounding local grid roads over the past few months.
It has been dubbed 'No Mow May' by residents but the local authority has since confirmed that the overgrown verges will become a permanent feature.
The grass has been left to grow due to the impact it has on wildlife and boosting sustainability. It produces more seeds that feed birds and quickly becomes a thriving habitat for insects including butterflies and bees.
The Leader of Milton Keynes Council, Cllr Pete Marland, told MKFM about their plans for wildflowers on the verges too.
These flowers have been planted in various areas over the past year, and will soon be making an appearance.
Cllr Marland said: "We have sown wildflower seeds that don't necessarily come out in the first year - but some of them have - so there are lots of yellow flowers around. But over the next few years when we don't cut [the grass] I think it will be visually amazing [to see] wildflowers."
Despite this, leaving the grass to grow also has its drawbacks. People have taken to social media to complain of it looking "messy" and even being potentially dangerous due to it restricting drivers' vision on fast-moving roads and roundabouts.
Cllr Marland addressed these concerns by saying: "We are cutting sight lines out so you will see random strips that are being mowed, or we do cut it down near roundabouts at sightlines."
Milton Keynes Council will also maintain the grass around signs and bollards to ensure that drivers can see them clearly.
When referring to the current unsightly appearance of long grass, he added: "It's one of those things that people say looks terrible, and for the first year it doesn't look great."
"That's the price of sustainability," he adds. "Doing these minor things to tackle climate change have trade-offs and I don't apologise for that."
