More Nature Friendly areas are planned for the Bradford District. That means more spaces managed to support nature, from plants to field mice, hedgehogs, frogs, birds, and bats. This will be achieved by tweaking how the Parks service manages some of our grassed areas.
The aim of the mowing regime is to balance the needs of people and nature in parks. Weather permitting grass will continue to be cut up to 10 times per year in formal areas, sports pitches and highways giving park visitors the space to play and exercise. Some designated areas will be cut in April and paused during May. Other areas will receive only one cut per year to encourage meadow grasses and wildflowers to develop. It is estimated that this will create 190,000 square metres of more nature friendly habitat in the district’s green space.
In addition, the Parks Service is also reducing the amount of pesticide it uses to control “weeds and grass”. In less formal areas and some highway settings spraying is being reduced and phased out around trees, path edges, some furniture and equipment etc. The service continues to monitor innovative alternative weed control measures, such as steam and heat treatments with a view to adopt these if become cost effective and efficient.
These changes were reported to the Council’s Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee in December 2026. The full report can be found here Mowing Committee Report 2026.