Congleton Town Council’s Streetscape Services team provides the grounds maintenance for the parks and many of the green spaces in Congleton under contract to Cheshire East.
The current climate emergency presents the Council and the community with challenges that we cannot ignore. Our parks and open spaces are essential to helping us address the impact of global warming and take action to take to tackle climate change head-on.
Congleton Town Council is committed to restoring lost habitats and not using unnecessary chemicals that are detrimental to the health of its residents and the wider environment.
Congleton Town Council regularly reviews open spaces to identify areas for reduced mowing, allowing grass to grow to support wildlife and bees. We will work with relevant organisations to explore alternative methods as standards and techniques evolve.
You can see more information about Cheshire East’s strategy:
The map shows the ownership and maintenance of the various areas of land in Congleton.
Cheshire East and the Town Council need to make sure that our parks and open spaces are managed and maintained sustainably, and the Town Council intends to lead by example to influence positive change.
The people of Congleton value our parks and open spaces, and thousands of people use them. We must balance the requirement for open play areas and neat gardens with the urgent need to promote biodiversity and improve the natural environment.
To achieve this, we will be leaving some areas of the parks and open spaces unmown. This is a simple way to provide a more diverse landscape for wildlife such as birds, small mammals, and pollinating insects.
Congleton Town Council is adopting a ‘Low-Mow’ town approach to grass cutting and is encouraging other organisations to do the same. The Low Mow approach will be an all-year-round campaign which will see more swathes of land left completely unmown during the growing season to enable nature to thrive, whilst other areas will be cut less frequently.
The Low Mow approach has evolved from practical experience. The council believes it will be better for wildlife, better for the equipment and will lead to less complaints. The approach will see more areas left wild until the end of the season, whilst regularly used areas are kept trimmed. Mowing schedules will vary from area to area, with all areas being left at the beginning of May. Where grass is cut less often, the town council’s Streetscape service will still visit to maintain the area. At the end of the growing season, all areas will be cut to prepare for the next season.
Wildflower strips are areas of grass that are purposely not cut and where wildflowers are allowed to self-seed and grow. Wildflower strips are planned for many areas in Congleton.
In order to increase biodiversity still further, the Council has put together a Biodiversity Plan, which involves 30 key sites around the town which will have their own strategy to increase wildlife and diversity of flora. You can learn more about this on the Biodiversity Page.
Congleton Town Council sources bedding plants locally to reduce our carbon footprint, and in many areas, such as roundabouts and parks, we are planting perennials to reduce replanting and associated waste.
Congleton Town Council is working with Cheshire East Council on locations for large areas of open space where meadow strips can be formed. These are areas where some of the grass will be cut on a specific site, but then there will be strips left for wildlife. As you can see from the image, there will still be grass which is mown fortnightly to enable children to play and families to enjoy picnics. There are also swaths of grass strips left thick and long for local wildlife and insect habitats.
The Council provided practical support for the group Trees for Congleton, a volunteer group that aimed to plant 30,000 new trees (one for each resident) in and around Congleton. This ambitious target was completed in 2025.
The Town Council will continue working with Cheshire East and Trees For Congleton Group on sites for mini woodlands. In these woodlands, the grass will be left for wildlife. You can learn more about these areas on the Trees for Congleton website.
Cheshire East Highways used to do the majority of weed spraying across Congleton. This is to prevent the proliferation of harmful weeds, causing significant deterioration of roads and pavements. Over the last year, this service has not been carried out across many areas of the town. Congleton Town Council is currently looking at other solutions to carry out this service.
Congleton Town Council will not use glyphosate-based weed killer in any area under our control.
Responsibilities:
Congleton Town Council and Congleton in Bloom have won many awards for the standards set across the town, including:
In 1998, a small group of dedicated volunteers formed Congleton In Bloom. They were determined to do something to brighten up Congleton. The group has evolved and grown and achieved many successes:
To learn more, please visit:
