Maintenance of small open spaces should be handed to community-spirited locals as council budgets tighten, a meeting was told.
The new financial year starts next week and the council's budget for maintaining flower and shrub beds has been slashed by 50 per cent.
A group of councillors which looks at environmental issues is recommending a 'community spaces scheme' is established where people would plant their own flower gardens and vegetable plots. Council officer Darren Richardson said it was possible to recruit a large bank of volunteers but said lots of publicity was needed.
"I'll use the good neighbours' scheme as an example. We were trying to get snow wardens to help clear footways in bad weather.
"We've got 140 volunteers now across the borough. What we haven't got is a budget to publicise this open spaces scheme."
