I feel that Wiltshire Council, which seeks to promote environmental stewardship by sustaining and enriching its natural environment, has been prevented from fully doing this by Balfour Beatty.

To me a promise and a contract have a lot in common; if either is broken it leads to a loss of trust. Balfour Beatty were contracted to cut the long grass at North Meadow, next to the rowing club in Bradford on Avon by the end of September 2014.

The grass was not cut until sometime in October, despite the very dry September we have experienced which would have been ideal for such work. Their contract also includes the removal of the grass to give wild flowers a chance to grow. Surprise, surprise it was still there on October 26. This is a repeat of last year’s procedure.

Consultation exercises show that it needs to be cut in March, and again once the flowers have bloomed at the end of July. We need wildflowers to ensure that insects such as bees and butterflies are present to pollinate not just the wildflowers which should grow in North Meadow but also other food crops which humans rely on for their survival.

Liz Stephens, Representing the Biodiversity Group of Climate Friendly Bradford-on-Avon.