A Johnstone councillor has welcomed news that Spateston is to benefit from the creation of a wildflower area.
Land beside the Spateston nursery and along the Spateston burn will be planted out with flowers carefully selected to recreate natural Scottish habitat and attract back the insects and birds which have been lost.
The plans, which were given the green light prior to the pandemic by the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, are part of the council’s commitment to improving our local environment and reaching its ambitious climate change target of becoming net-zero by 2030.
Work will set to begin shortly on the wildflower areas to ensure that planting can take place during the appropriate season.
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And SNP councillor Andy Steel, who represents the Johnstone South and Elderslie area, welcomed the plans.
He said: “This is great news and hopefully a model for the future. You’ve got to do something pro-active with land, or else sooner or later someone will try to build houses on it.
“I’d love to see this programme extended, but you’ve got to show it working to get people on board. I hope this will do that.
“The land in question is pretty scrubby, while the burnside is mostly grass – it’s not very diverse, so doesn’t attract diverse wildlife.
“This programme will see turf removed and planted with a wildflower seed mix to attract a wider range of insects and birds to the newly created ‘meadow’ and it will provide a breeding habitat for several species.
“An area of ground sloping down to the burn will also be kept as rough grassland as this is a good habitat for field voles.
“When the council declared a climate emergency, it committed to try everything going to tackle climate change and the problems it brings. If we can create wildflower areas across Renfrewshire it would go some way to doing that."
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