Management of hedgerows and the ability to remove them is regulated tightly by a number of regulations and statutes. When landowners look to change field boundaries or the access to these fields, the due consideration that must be taken before carrying out such work can often be missed.
The “removal” of a hedgerow is defined, in the Environment Act 1995, as to ‘uproot or otherwise destroy’ and further guidance is set out in The Hedgerow Regulations 1997. These are swept up into the standards of Good Agriculture and Environmental Condition (GAEC) and therefore Cross Compliance. Not complying of course then runs the threat of a penalty being deducted from one’s Single Payment.
A hedgerow may only be removed if two criteria have been met first. The first is that the appropriate local authority has been notified in writing with a form containing the information set out in Schedule 4 of The Hedgerow Regulations 1997, or where relevant to the National Park Authority, and secondly that either written permission to carry out the removal has been received or a period of 42 days has passed since the ‘hedgerow removal notice’ was submitted (which is taken as having permission granted).
The work carried out following a successful application must follow the written approval closely, and it is therefore vital for the application submitted to be clear and accurately state all the work that needs to be carried out. This will include specific information on the length of hedgerow to be removed and the process taken following its removal, such as burning of the organic material (regulated under one’s Waste Exemption agreement).
There are some limited circumstances where permission to remove hedgerows is not required, but these are for instances such as obtaining temporary access to land in order to give assistance in an emergency.
Perhaps the most relevant time when permission is not required is to create a new opening to replace an existing opening which gives access to land. This is, however under the condition that when creating the new opening, the existing opening will be filled in by planting a hedge within 8 months.
An Environmental Impact Assessment may be required. This will be sought if the hedgerow is deemed to be “important” in diversity and the habitats that may be contained within. Some local authorities may require this assessment to be included within the final ‘hedgerow removal notice’, and can turn down applications on this basis.
The requirements stated above, or any other restrictions and regulations that fall under The Hedgerow Regulation 1997 and GAEC 15 do not apply however, to hedgerows within the curtilage of a residential dwelling or to the side of a hedge that faces a dwelling and is the boundary of the curtilage of it.