Floral displays and trim grass verges could soon be the latest casualty of cost-cutting measures by Bradford Council.

With the authority having to tighten its belt in the coming year, fewer flowers will be planted, grass cut less regularly and more areas allowed to grow and become “wildflower meadows”.

Herbaceous plants will replace seasonal flowers in some displays, while there will be a drop in ornamental areas that receive weekly maintenance.

Letting grassed areas grow wild is expected to save the Council up to £115,000 a year while changing up floral displays will save £5,000.

A further £35,000 is being saved through a voluntary redundancy programme for parks staff.

A report into the changes will be presented to the Council’s area committees in the coming weeks, starting with the Keighley Area Committee this Thursday.

It states: “There will be a reduction in some direct maintenance and the creation of wildflower meadows, adding biodiversity.

“There will be reduced maintenance of some grass areas. Some banking will be taken out of mowing regimes and developed as wildflower areas.”

It also says there would be a “reduction in the number of ornamental areas maintained on a weekly standard”.

The news has received a mixed response from groups in the district.

Steve Stanworth, a church warden at St James’s Church in Thornton, Bradford, has been fighting to persuade the Council to cut the churchyard’s grass on a more regular basis and is not looking forward to it being scaled back even more.

He said: “A lot of the lesser know places don’t get as much work done to them as it is. We have got In Bloom judging this week, and the place really doesn’t look its best.

“At the moment it looks like we’re going to have to look at other ways of getting things done. It might come to the point where we just let it grow wild again. I’m not happy about any cutbacks, and it certainly puts volunteers off – they lose heart.”

Sheri-Leigh Miles is a director of Sustainable Saltaire and believes replacing flowers with other plants could be a positive thing, adding: “It sounds much more sensible, and a lot more sustainable. It is quite a progressive act. People might just have to get used to seeing parks and flower beds differently.”

Mike Cunningham, a volunteer for Keighley In Bloom, said: “This is happening to all areas of Yorkshire. I think the In Bloom judges are now aware they won’t be seeing floral displays like they did five or six years ago.

“In a way it is understandable, because it is not an essential service, but people will complain because they are used to seeing Keighley with beautiful flowers.”

Phil Barker, the Council’s assistant director for sport and leisure services, said: “All Council services continue to operate within an environment of tight financial constraints and we are changing the nature of what we do and how we do it.

“For example we will be introducing wildflower areas in place of some mown grassed areas, reducing the number of floral displays and moving to more sustainable planting schemes that add further biodiversity to an area.”