Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com

• THE grass at Sidney Boyd Court must be very different from that on this side of the borough on the Torriano estate, (Bees and butterflies are being favoured over people, June 24).

We’re a slightly larger estate of about 120 homes, and keen gardeners have turned some parts into beautiful shared and private spaces. Much is still in lawn and has just been mown for the first time since April.

It had indeed become a low-rise meadow, filled with buttercups and daisies but barely half-a-metre high. The borage from the borders started to make inroads and a few poppies appeared.

In the good weather, I sat outside and neighbours put up a small pool for the children to enjoy. Unsightly is all in the eye of the beholder.

The council never mowed that often so under the old mowing regime it was often a lumpy mess. Once it grows and the flowers emerge it looks far better.

This isn’t abandoning the grounds to meadow, its allowing the lawn to achieve its potential as a space for adults to sit, children and dogs to play and explore, insects and butterflies to flourish, and all to enjoy.

Well done, Camden Council. And as a thought, please, let it be a few more weeks to allow flowers to set seed and give them a chance for next year.

CATHRYN SYMONS
Torriano Estate, NW5