Southend: ‘Plant grass and plants on top of our town’s bus stops to help the environment'

A motion will be heard at a full Southend Council meeting next week urging the borough to adopt the scheme used by other councils including in Brighton and Cardiff.

The motion, put forward by Labour councillors Aston Line and Kay Mitchell, said the “Bee Bus Stops” could help reduce the decline of pollinating insects.

The “Bee Bus Stops” are planted with wildflower and sedum plants, while the “green roofs” scheme would reduce the amount of water run-off with materials that will allow the bus stops to have a cooling effect in summer and insulate in winter.

Jon Fuller, of South East Essex Friends of the Earth, said: “Bee Bus Stops are a superb idea, allowing us to protect bees and other pollinators, and also improve air quality.

“It is crucial that we use the roofs of a wide range of buildings, including bus stops, for solar PV panels, to reduce the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions.

“I welcome this proposal and hope to see them all over town”.

Carole Mulroney, councillor responsible for culture, tourism and the environment, said following the full council meeting the matter will be referred to the council’s environment working party for further research.

She added: “Obviously with these ideas we will always take a look sand see if its feasible and affordable and we will try and do whatever we can.

“It will cost an amount to do and it will be an ongoing cost that will fall to the highways department. It will all be part of the budget process to make sure we can sustain it.”

The motion reads: “Installing these across the most built up and traffic heavy routes, would provide a green roof corridor for biodiversity, and improve the environment, capturing pollutants while enhancing visual amenity.

“We need to transfer this to a much greater scale, due to the residential sectors contribution to C02 emissions, with power continuing to be supplied primarily by fossil fuels.”