A NORTHWICH campaigner is on a mission to bring something wild to the town's green spaces.

Lee Siddall has been so inspired by the wildflowers growing in and around nearby Kingsmead that he wants his own local town council to go green themselves and do something similar.

He said: "I’m interested in how we can persuade more local councils to plant wildflowers in Northwich that will help the wildlife to thrive.

"I joined the Kingsmead team for a chat recently and they explained how they managed to convince their local council to do this.

"I hope to take what I have learned and expand this into Winnington and Castle with the help of Northwich Town Council at some point."

The story of how Kingsmead let wildflowers flourish started when Simon Boyland made contact with Kingsmead Parish Council around 18 months ago.

Lee went on: "Simon would regularly drive through Kingsmead and he noticed that there was great expanses of green grass that is just cut in a traditional way, like you do in a parks.

"He asked the parish council if they would consider setting up some strips of wildflowers because he had seen it in other places like Rochdale.

"Warrington has done this too, but Rotherham has gone for it in a big way."

Mr Siddall explained how Kingsmead Parish Council then went on up two different trials, one where they just left certain areas of the grass as it was to grow as nature intended and see how it developed and another where the ground was cultivated before wildflower seeds were scattered.

Lee added: "Like all things, councils have to cater for all kinds of tastes, they have people who like to see everything cut like a traditional lawn and also people who like to see wild flowers.

"The parish council has also cut down on the number of herbicides that were being used."

A wildflower trial was also set up down the main Kingsmead spine and despite a unseasonal dry patch of weather for several weeks, the scattered seeds began to sprout into colourful life.

Lee said: "The councillors said they are pleasantly surprised and have had quite lot of people who have given positive commented on how good it all looks.

"Over 700 people have liked a recent post about the wildflowers in Kingsmead and over 100 positive comments saying how beautiful it looks and how it brightens up their commute.

"Once the Flowers heads have formed properly by the second half of September the flowers will need to be cut."

Kingsmead council are seeking volunteers to help out cut and gather the cuttings, but the seeds naturally fall out and germinate flowers for the following year. They are also keen to put together a survey of what flowers are growing in the areas and what wildlife it is attracting.

Lee added: "The great thing is that the display will change every year because it depends on the weather conditions.

"Sewing different mixes of native seeds will encourage different wildflowers to grow each year. Getting the mixture of yellow rattle seed correct is quite important to keep the grass under control and allowing the flowers to come through.

"I hope that the fantastic feedback that this project has had from locals will encourage Northwich Town Council to follow suit as I would like to see how we could do the same in Winnington and Castle.

"It is a fantastic boost for local wildlife and gives our bumblebees a great selection of wildflowers to choose from.

"If any members of the community would like to be involved in helping the Kingsmead project please contact Kingsmead Parish Council."