Plans have been announced for areas in Babergh to be left to re-wild in a bid to boost biodiversity, and Shotley peninsula groups are being encouraged to put forward their choices.

Babergh today confirmed that conversations were underway with town and parish councils to identify land where the wildflower meadows could be established.

It will mean some areas traditionally harbouring trimmed grass and mown verges will be left as meadow planting to attract insects and pollinators, although the council has stressed this will be in places where it is appropriate and be carried out in consultation with communities.

Areas such as roadside grass verges which could impact traffic visibility will continue to be cut.

A spokeswoman for Babergh council said: "We recognise our responsibility to enhance and protect biodiversity and wildlife conservation across our districts and play our part in the county-wide aim to make Suffolk the greenest county, and carbon neutral by 2030.

"Working with our local town and parishes to identify future wildflower meadows and investing in these trial sites is just one way that we working towards biodiversity net gain and protecting our districts' wildlife and plants for generations to come."

No locations have yet been confirmed as work continues on identifying potential sites.

Ganges ward member Derek Davis said: "There are many areas on the Shotley peninsula that could be left to wildflower and that would be fantastic for a range of reasons.

"At the same time we need to be pragmatic and careful which sites we choose so as not to have a detrimental effect on every day living, and that includes making allowances for motorist and pedestrian safety."

The council is also planning to encourage new housing developers to allocate land for wildflower meadows in their planning applications alongside the usual green open space provision.

Dr Dan Pratt from the opposition Green and Liberal Democrat group, said: "It's great that we are acting. It's essential that we do change our management procedures to ensure the best outcomes for biodiversity for that space."

Dr Pratt said developers also needed to be mindful of removing hedgerows from land as part of planning applications, which had significant impacts on habitats.

The wildflower plans are the latest in a string of green measures currently underway, which also includes switching refuse trucks to hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) sustainable fuel, carbon reduction measures at leisure centres and nearly £100,000 in biodiversity efforts which also includes a survey of tree canopies.

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