BOURNEMOUTH councillor Lawrence Williams flagged up some serious dilemmas in his letter (How we are managing the grass verges, June 25).

He is a cabinet member for Tourism, Leisure and the Arts.

Does a large council like Bournemouth not have a conservation representative who can be approached about matters such as more wildflower strips alongside our out of town roads and dual carriageways?

We have so many once common species of wildlife entering the endangered list each year, we owe it to ourselves and future generations to manage our grass verges more sympathetically for wildlife and, that does mean being considerably more knowledgeable.

The councillor’s letter further depressed me when he states “there are six ride on mowers operating 7.5 hours a day for five days a week”.

This sounds plausible, except for the omission that the grass cutting contractors have to comply with the conditions of their contract, which is usually set years in advance and renders local representation virtually useless in fulfilling the wishes of their electorate.

This prompts a fundamental question: who is responsible for managing wildlife? Indeed, what exactly does it mean and what are its aims? I suspect if you ask many people they will have little or no grasp on the answers.

Yet despite being almost ignored in the popular media and poorly understood by politicians, wildlife management – or more precisely a lack of wildlife management – is absolutely central to many of the difficulties we face today regarding our relationship with flora and fauna in Dorset.

MIKE FRY

Moorland Crescent, Upton, Poole