Volunteer ‘devastated’ after flower meadow at Peterborough rec cut in error

The scenic site at the Werrington Recreation Ground in Hastings Road has been attracting a wide range of animals but was recently cut back by the council-run Aragon Direct Services, which took over park maintenance from private contractor Amey earlier this year.This prompted a complaint from community volunteer Roger Proudfoot as the area is only meant to be cut once a year - in the autumn.

Mr Proudfoot wrote to the council saying: “This is a major blow to volunteer engagement in the city and it has left me upset, frustrated and deeply saddened.”

He added: “It was only two Saturdays ago that I ran another successful Bugs and Beasts weekend at the paddocks and on the recreation ground.

“I was about to write you a report to let you know how successful the wildflower planting from two years ago has been with over 30 patches flourishing, attracting a wide range of insects, especially butterflies, with one flower head alone attracting five large skippers.

“The site was also full of grasshoppers and we found frogs foraging in the long grass. We carried out sweep netting and the children loved seeing all the grasshoppers and other insects. It was great to see them engaging with nature - it appeared that the hard work of myself and our volunteers was beginning to pay off.

“I was so impressed by our efforts that I used it as an example at an international conference I organised in London that I was hosting at the Natural History Museum on restoration at which I had the chair of the Environment Agency and Thérèse Coffey (Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) in attendance.

“I was using the meadow as an example of what one person’s personal energy can lead to, to inspire the delegates.

“As I drove past on my return I was pretty devastated to see the meadow had been cut with the loss of such richness and diversity that we found only four days earlier.

“How do I explain to the children why this was done or tell the 80 organisations that attended the conference that my example was now just another heap of dead grass?”

A council spokesperson said: “The flower meadow at Werrington Recreation Ground has been cut earlier than was agreed in error and we would like to apologise for this. In light of this happening, we will now look to carry out a review of mowing practices across all our biodiversity areas. We will also set up a meeting with the Werrington Environment Group to ensure this does not happen again.”