I am all for rewilding but yesterday I drove into my nearby town and had trouble on the roundabouts seeing traffic coming in from the right .
This was because the grass was too long on the approach verges / islands .
Really the councils seem to have no common sense .
Reduce cutting the grass by all means but not in the areas where visibility is essential.
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Might it be that the ground is too wet for the council to mow?
With the La Nina here playing fields have been unusable because the council can’t get their mowers on the field. Well meaning citizens were told to stop using their garden mowers because they damaged the ground too much. It might be the same reason there, I don’t know.
The ground here is dry as a bone it’s mid summer and we are having a heat wave .
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A heatwave! What! you mean it has got up to 20° 
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And I thought it was only me that ranted about that 
Same here. Some of our roundabouts are dreadful. Tall grass, weeds, overgrown shrubs and bushes and now self seeded trees.
I have reported some to the council and they replied that no hazards were identified!
The same in Staffordshire.
Roundabouts are a nightmare,grass verges are too,for people walking.
Laziness on the local councils front imo.
There have been lots of complaints in our area about this too. Personally I love the rewilding of the verges, but I agree there are some areas where mowing, or at least reducing the height of the growth, is essential.
On my daughter’s estate, there are verges on both sides of the main through road, a bus route. They looked absolutely beautiful when left unmown, with lots and lots of tall dog daisies and other flowers. However, there are simply not enough crossing points, so if you needed to cross the road, you had to navigate this very long growth - often with dog mess hidden, because with the best will in the world, it’s difficult for owners to find where their dog has been, never mind clear it up properly. And heaven help people with prams trying to cross!
Then a couple of weeks ago, the council just butchered the whole lot, leaving mown grass everywhere. A complete and utter mess, with everyone walking grass clippings into their houses. I mean, for heaven’s sake, either rewild, or don’t. Make up your minds!
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I agree!
I’m all for re-wilding verges but not letting the vegetation grow too tall in places where it prevents visibility of oncoming traffic at roundabouts and junctions.
The other thing that irritates me is that the Canal & River Trust seem to be using the re-wilding excuse to cut down on mowing the grass areas around the lock gates.
I think it’s great that they are encouraging meadow grass and wildflowers along the hedgerows and edges of the towpaths and along parts of the canal banks but you still need a pathway you can walk safely along and it’s particularly important not to have a tangle of long grass and wild flowers around the locks - the long grass and wild flowers tangle round your feet as you’re walking from one lock gate to the other and it gets so slippy underfoot when it’s raining.
I sometimes have to stop and disentangle the vegetation that has tangled round the lace hooks in my walking boots - I don’t want to end up tripping over it into the lock!
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@Bathsheba , Apart from the dog shyte issue Bathsheba,( dogs should be
on leads so owners will be aware of what their dog is doing !)
I completely agree with you !!
Donkeyman! 
Totally agree there. But you need to have a word with our daughter’s dog - she never, ever, squats and does it all in one place. Oh no, she has to do a bit, then walk a few paces for the next bit, then a few more paces… Usually there are 4 or 5 little packages, that we then have to try to find in the long grass 
Ah, yes, 20C. But it is already 22C at 10:00 and expected to get to 28C. That’s uncomfortable for us.
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I love it .
So do I
@Bathsheba , Hmmm, very inconvenient l must say ??
Sounds like she is marking her territory ??
Donkeyman! 
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Proper rewilding does not happen just because the someone doesn’t cut anything, the seeds for what ever it is they want to grow need to be sown or better still plug plants, councils are just lazy or don’t have the staff we have one guy in this town doing crass cutting etc, he can’t cope.
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@caricature , l suppose it depends on what he uses to cut the grass wiv
caricature ??
Get im a ride on !l
Donkeyman! 
He has one, not much good when trimming back edges along pavements .
I agree with you 100% on this, Muddy, because exactly the same happens to me.
Every single time I drive into the nearby town, there is a roundabout off the slip road where the grass and wildflowers are higher than my vision. It’s fine for lorry drivers and probably most 4x4’s who sit higher up, but I find it very dangerous. I cannot see vehicles coming from the right until they are almost on top of me.
I too, am all for rewilding some verges, but like you say, why not do it up railway bankings, or similar, but it is NOT safe on roundabouts like these at all.