THE entrances to Staindrop could become a blaze of colourful wildflowers as early as next summer.
Parish councillors noticed that villages in the east of the county had numerous floral displays but Staindrop had none.
Cllr Ed Chicken raised the issue earlier this year, prompting Durham County Council’s clean and green team manager Geoff Knight to attend the group’s October meeting.
Mr Knight explained that while Durham County Council supplies and installs stand-alone planters, it is usually a village or town council that pays for them to be filled each year and is also responsible for watering and weeding.
He added: “We don’t put out bedding where we have to pay for it. Over the past ten years we have been decreasing the amount of annual bedding, not just because of the costs, but also the carbon footprint.
“We are tasked now with turning over fixed beds into more sustainable perennial bedding so we don’t have the ongoing cost as much, the watering cost and all the carbon footprint that is attached to that.”
He added that replanting each year is not environmentally friendly and also not helpful for pollinators.
Mr Knight said the one exception was deprived areas in the east of the county where the county council maintains floral displays because research had shown that improved aesthetics in deprived areas boosts standards and reduces crime.
However, he said the county was happy to discuss floral arrangements with Staindrop Parish Council.
Cllr David Reed said that requests for planters at the village entrance boards had previously been turned down by officers.
This prompted Mr Knight to suggest wildflower planting, which was welcomed by the parish council.
Cllr Chicken said: “If the approaches had wildflowers, that would be a wonderful start. Darlington has it. Even at this time of year it is still impactful.”
Mr Knight said he would chat to the operational team for the area to discuss seeding the entrance from Barnard Castle and also ask the county’s find it and fix it team to clear up the grass verge along the approach from Raby Castle, with a view to considering whether it would also be suitable for wildflower seeding. He noted the wildflower seed is expensive and re-seeding needs to be done every three to five years
Mr Knight concluded: “We (the county council) will do the first one and then we can revisit the cost with the parish when we see how it has been received after the first season.”
