The following statement was issued in response to enquiries from the media about mowing on open spaces, including Midsummer Common.

“Midsummer Common is a treasured open space, which is enjoyed by residents and visitors in a variety of different ways. It is also home to the upcoming Strawberry Fair taking place on 1 June.

“Whilst we support No Mow May, there are times over the course of the month where we are required to maintain some mowing activity in parts of the city to ensure public spaces are accessible and safe for all to use. This is typically in areas around play equipment, designated amenity spaces such as picnic and event spaces, or where critical traffic sight lines are impacted by verges. Not doing so presents a risk to residents and visitors. This is the case for Midsummer Common and some of the other open spaces we manage across the city.

“We recognise the importance of a healthy and biodiverse environment and support No Mow May. In 2022, we introduced the principles of No Mow May into our Biodiversity Strategy to shape how we manage public spaces. We have since reduced our cutting schedule. Midsummer Common is also an important grassland habitat and was purposefully left uncut as long as possible to support biodiversity for insects that inhabit the common however, there is a balance between maintaining this position and cutting at an appropriate time to ensure that there are not significant levels of cuttings on site that could present a potential fire risk during a large event.

“At Christ’s Pieces, we have also attempted to keep a balance between keeping the open space safe for use whilst supporting biodiversity. For this reason we have created designated areas with long grass.

“To balance our commitment to biodiversity whilst ensuring that our open spaces are useable that we keep cutting to a minimum and only mow where required. Through the management of our parks, local nature reserves and tree stock we are supporting pollinators year round and throughout their lifecycle. Some of this work includes installing bee banks, bee hotels and deadwood features in our parks and local nature reserves as well as maintaining and planting a diverse range of flowering trees in our streets and open spaces.”