Oxford City Council has announced an update to its roadside grass verge cutting schedule, building on feedback from local residents and its ongoing work to support biodiversity in the city.
Following significant feedback from residents, and budget decisions announced by both councils, Oxford City Council will this year update its approach and cut highway grass verges twice a year.
The exception to this will be the eight Oxford roads that formed part of the Council’s original ‘no mow’ pilot where this has been found to have increased biodiversity. In these areas the grass cuttings are collected to further help boost biodiversity and encourage a greater variety of wildflowers to establish.
Over the past few years, the Council has been trialling different approaches to grass verge cutting in a handful of ‘no mow’ pilot areas within Oxford to support an increase in biodiversity.
Last year, the progressive Oxfordshire County Council’s introduced a new verge maintenance policy, with a single cut each year. Oxford City Council implemented this approach across all of Oxford’s verges, with the cut taking place in late summer 2023.
While Oxfordshire County Council, as the highways authority, is responsible for grass verges across the city, it contracts ODS through Oxford City Council to maintain them.
| Location | Frequency of cutting |
| Roadside grass verges | Twice a year |
| 8 ‘no mow’ pilot verges: Marston Road, Sunderland Avenue, Headley Way (Oxford Road Bypass) / Eastern bypass, the Roundway, Bayswater Road, Abingdon Road, Abberbury roundabout, Grenoble Road (larger verge section/ narrow verge section to be mowed to allow access) | Once a year – with grass cuttings collected |
| Communal gardens (Council housing) | Twice a month |
| Parks and green spaces | Every six weeks |
| Sports pitches in parks | Cut regularly to maintain short grass August to May, and cut every six weeks during the football off-season |
| Parish council areas | Varies by parish |
Roadside grass verges
Where roadside verges are cut twice a year, this will be during the summer and autumn. This will allow wildflowers to complete their full lifecycle, which typically takes six to eight weeks.
The Council will continue to mow grass verges near junctions where visibility is required all year round. Residents can report their concerns about grass verges impacting visibility, on FixMyStreet.
Communal gardens in Council properties
Communal gardens around Council flats and homes will continue to be maintained, with mowing scheduled twice a month from April to October.
Parks, green spaces, and sports pitches in parks
Grass in parks and green spaces will be cut every six weeks.
Football and playing pitches in parks are maintained as short grass for sports matches during the football season from August until the end of May.
The off-season during the summer allows time for the grass to recover and regrow and to ensure the grass quality is restored and ready for the next season. At this point the pitches become part of the wider parks, and will be cut every six weeks until the beginning of the new football season when pitches are prepared to come back into play.
This includes sports facilities at Barton, Blackbird Leys Park, Court Place Farm, Cowley Marsh, Cutteslowe Park, Five Mile Drive, Grandpont, Hinksey Park, Horspath, Margaret Road Rec (Quarry), Northway, Rose Hill and Sandy Lane.
Parish councils
Parish councils are responsible for grass cutting in all localised areas, including sports facilities, village greens and some highway verges.
Many areas follow the same approach as the wider district, however, individual grass verge cutting approaches are ultimately the decision of the parish. Parish councils may elect to pay for further additional cuts of verges if they wish to.
Comment
“We are pleased to announce our updated grass verge cutting programme. As we work to tackle the ecological and climate emergency, it is important that we adapt our approach in response to local needs. By increasing our grass verge cutting to twice a year we are listening to feedback from local residents, while also helping to support biodiversity within the city. I look forward to seeing our verges bloom for another year.”
Councillor Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford and Climate Justice
Why is re-wilding of verges important?
There are nearly 313,500 miles of rural road verge in the UK. With over 97% of meadows destroyed since the 1930s, road verges can be a home for pollinators and other wildlife, and more pollinators are found on well-managed verges than in the neighbouring countryside.
These pollinators such as bees and butterflies, play a crucial role in the reproduction of many plants by transferring pollen from the male to the female parts of flowers. This process allows plants to produce fruits and seeds, ensuring the next generation of plants, and ensure pollination for crops including fruits and vegetables.
Without pollinators, the yield and quality of these crops would be significantly reduced, leading to potential food shortages.
Re-wilding aims to restore and protect natural habitats, allowing for the return of native plant and animal species. This helps to increase biodiversity and restore ecological balance, sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change.
