We are very lucky to live in such a green borough and we all have a responsibility to protect it for future generations. As part of this, you may have spotted some of the new bee-utiful signs which have been installed to promote areas of wildflower growth and biodiversity.

These signs will be present at many roadsides, verges and meadows around the borough where our parks and countryside team has purposefully let wildflowers and vegetation grow to encourage insects and plants to thrive. These areas of longer grass may sometimes look unkempt, but they are important habitat for wildlife, including:

· wildflowers such as the Common Spotted Orchid, Ragged-Robin and Devil’s-Bit Scabious

· insects such as the Gatekeeper butterfly, bees, grasshoppers, crickets and dragonflies

· mammals such as Roe Deer and field voles

· birds such as skylarks, linnets and finches

We have taken these steps, as though we are known for having beautiful parks and green spaces, the decline in pollinator insects over recent decades has brought the need for us to nurture other parts of the borough to help create habitats for bees, butterflies and other wildlife.

You’ll now be able to spot these areas more easily across the borough with the addition of our brightly coloured signs to match the blooming wildflowers. What’s more, not only will the increased foliage benefit our local environment, but the reduction in grass cutting in these areas will decrease the council’s carbon footprint.

Increasing roadside nature reserves is part of the Bracknell Forest Biodiversity Action Plan, and we will aim to increase the number of biodiversity spots across the borough in the coming years.

Biodiversity is also a big factor in the council’s climate change strategy for the next four years. You can read more about how the council is reducing the effects of climate change, by visiting the climate change action plan on our website.

Before I close this week’s column, I’d like to say a big thank you to all our staff and contractors who worked tirelessly throughout the extreme heat last week and who are working equally as hard catching up during this one.

The welfare of our staff is extremely important, as is providing key services, especially to our most vulnerable residents – whom our social workers have been making additional checks on. Senior managers spent a lot of time reviewing our department and section plans in order to keep everyone as safe as possible during the level 4 heatwave. We encouraged our staff to work during the cooler part of the day if the nature of their role allowed it; to start earlier if they were working outside to avoid intense heat; to take regular breaks and recover if they felt the effects of the heat.

Thanks to this advice, and their hard work, we negotiated a level 4 heatwave with minimal disruption to our services. Thank you to our residents for your understanding during the extreme hot weather.

I hope that everyone has a lovely week ahead.