A Liverpool opposition leader sparked a furious backlash after posting a video criticising the council's policy of letting grass verges grow - with a leading tv presenter and conservationist joining the debate.
Cllr Carl Cashman, who recently took over as the city's Liberal Democrat and main opposition leader, posted a video on twitter in which he took aim at Liverpool Council's decision to let grass verges and green spaces grow and not be cut back in recent months.
Earlier in the year it was announced that the council's grass cutting programme would be cut back in a bid to boost biodiversity and help the city to meet its climate change commitments. The council said the cutting of amenity grassland that was being cut through a 16-21 cycle would be stripped back by 50% in some areas.
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The proposal said the shift in pattern would bring about a number of environmental benefits including improved carbon capture, positive impact on flooding and greater biodiversity.
The policy has prompted plenty of debate, with some welcoming the environmental benefits of the move, while others have said grass verges around the city are looking untidy.
This weekend Cllr Cashman joined the debate, posting a video next to an overgrown grassland area, which has been allowed to grow long, with only the very verges being trimmed back.
In the video, the Lib Dem leader accused the city council of using 'biodiversity' as a smokescreen for the 'no-cut' policy, suggesting it has more to do with the financial problems, which he said the local Labour Party has created. He also suggested the grass areas 'don't look very nice' and said he had received complaints from residents.
The intervention received a flurry of responses, with many people disagreeing with Cllr Cashman's stance.
This included BBC wildlife presenter and leading conservationist Chris Packham, who said the opposition leader had 'embarrassed himself.'
He added: "Please do some research and please try and be on the same planet as those of us trying to patch up paradise and please show some empathy for all the life thriving in that modest patch of grass . Life is in the s*** Carl - we don’t have time for this."
Cllr Cashman's political rivals joined the criticism. Labour cabinet member Harry Doyle said: "I suppose the lack of Tories in Liverpool means the Liverpool Lib Dems have to step in their shoes. Now they’re attacking measures to increase biodiversity in communities. Using anti-environmental action rhetoric to score political points against Labour #yellowtories."
Amid a torrent of criticism, Cllr Cashman has since deleted the twitter video, but told the ECHO he believes his comments have been taken out of context.
He said: "Unfortunately the video has been completely taken out of context. It has been taken to mean I disagree with the policy and biodiversity. I do not. I supported the same approach as a Councillor in Knowsley.
"The point I was making was that the purpose for adopting this policy is not to promote biodiversity it is to save the council money because of Labour’s mismanagement of the council’s finances.
"Some opposition councillors and activists jumped on to say that debate had been limited due me reducing who could and could not comment on my post. They know full well that this is because of some well documented vile online comments I had received. You only need to look at some of the responses to this tweet to see that, some of which were liked and retweeted by Labour Councillors.
"I also make the point that there shouldn’t be a blanket approach to this policy. Quite simple really. Some areas it’s very appropriate, some areas it isn’t. I take my dog into The Mystery and he loves the long grass. This is a great place to do it. However, in the video it was not a good place as it was taking a very small area that children can play away from a main road. It is also not appropriate on the central reservation on Childwall Road, where many accidents occur."
He added: "In my ward and in our city in general, we have many terraced houses. People, unfortunately, don’t always have access to big back gardens or green space. This has upset many of my constituents because of the blanket approach taken by the council but also because of the state that the city is in. Litter and weeds blight our streets and parks.
"The policy, in general, has my support. Just don’t apply the same approach everywhere and don’t take away some of the small areas of grass in our communities where children can play."
Cllr Cashman said his party will be doing a summer survey of the policy, asking residents for their views and will share the results.
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