a petition

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1002

Give Us Back our Wild Flowers

Responsible department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Local authorities typically manage vast areas of amenity open space and roadside grass verges by regular cutting to ground level - as for sports fields. This has drastically reduced populations of previously common low-growing grassland wild flower species, resulting in a serious loss of habitat for our already endangered wild bees, butterflies and other arthropods. This in turn threatens the survival of other wildlife. It also creates a visually barren landscape devoid of attraction for young people, on the cultivation of whose enthusiasm the future of conservation must depend. To reverse this destruction, we propose that national principles for amenity open space and road verge management be defined as follows: that the cutting regime on amenity grassland other than designated sports pitches should ensure the grass is never shorter than 50-60 mm; that the cutting of road verges where wild flora are still abundant be delayed until the flowers have set and shed seed.

Flora Locale

Flora locale promotes the restoration of wild plants and habitats for the benefit of biodiversity, landscapes and people in town and countryside.
website

from Bee Strawbridge

A really good and thorough blog entry from Bee Strawbridge defintely a place to start

Roadside verges - wildlife havens or deserts?

and an earlier post Frustrated with local council

An artist friend did some work on motorway embankments - I gave her an article about a person whose job it is to find out what grows there...shame I didn't hold onto the details...

policy

which organisations and local authorities have policy documents on preserving the diversity of plants on verges, banks and  hedges
links below

Denbighshire

Cumbria

Northhants

Warwickshire

Lincolnshire

Cotswolds


Gloucestershire, specific sites

there is some quite old stuff to look through from 60s - 80s eg this report and a symposium