The grass cutting regime for road verges is quite a controversial topic, for some it is not enough, but within the nature conservation movement it can be a source of quite despair when a verge is mown at the height of the flowering season – not jut the loss of the picturesque, but the loss of potential seeds and food sources for insects, birds and mammals.
Here is our understanding of how verge management is split up and what are the current mowing policies in the Rushcliffe area
Highways England Verge Management on Trunk Roads (A453, A52, A46)
• Visibility zones = 3 times pa
• Amenity areas = 8 times pa
• Swathe, Signs, lamp columns and wildflower and open grassland = annually
County Council Verge Management (all other A Roads + B and minor roads)
Rural verges have a one metre cut along the road edge twice per year (wider on bends and junctions), with a full width cut once every three years on a rotation.
Urban verges are cut five times per annum, although we do know of at least one verge were NCC have agreed to just do a visibility cut for the first two cuts to allow the wildflowers to seed.
Parish councils sometimes take responsibility for verges in villages.
On occasions house owners/landowners choose to mow verges in front of their property, hence you may see random intensively mown stretches of verge.