There is a delicate balance to be struck between keeping roadways safe by maintaining hedgerows and holding off for several years to promote biodiversity, campaigners have said.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) says road users should be prioritised and it should be left to council officials to decide if and when it is necessary to cut back hedges and verges.
However, conservation groups such as BirdWatch Ireland argue that cutting hedgerows too early and often is exacerbating a huge problem of climate change and biodiversity loss.
RSA spokesman David Martin said that when it comes to safety, if work needs to be carried out, then this is of the “utmost importance”.
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“There are some exceptions to the Wildlife Act on the grounds of safety, so if local authorities believe there is an issue with a particular stretch of road, such as lack of visibility, the road needs widening or signage can’t be seen due to overgrowth, then they will act on it,” he said.
Cork County Council said people must act within the law when it comes to cutting their own hedgerows and the local authority strives to strike a balance between road safety and protecting the environment.
“Cutting and maintenance of roadside hedges is the responsibility of the landowner or occupier of the land,” she says “And, under the Wildlife and Heritage Acts, hedge cutting is prohibited between March 1st and August 31st, when growth is at its peak, and birds are nesting, except where exemptions apply, such as for road safety reasons or for the safety of workers when road works are being carried out.
“Cork County Council is committed to ensuring that roadside verges and boundaries are maintained in a manner which ensures that roads are safe for all road users, and which provides for the protection and enhancement of the biodiversity value of roadside boundaries.”
But Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland said the current approach was allowing much biodiversity “to be destroyed”.
“We have amongst lowest level of tree cover in Europe so our hedgerow does the job of woodland and is the best habitat we have for so many different species,” he said. “So when this is removed, [bird] populations will become fragmented and ultimately disappear.
“In many cases people are cutting out of habit, when instead of doing it every year it would be perfectly adequate to leave for three or four years. So wherever possible we would urge people to please refrain from cutting their hedgerows until at least September.”
The Wildlife and Heritage Act bans the cutting of hedgerows during the late spring and summer months, unless it is deemed necessary from a road safety perspective. However, not everyone adheres to this rule and last week there were reports of hedge cutting all over the country, from Cork and Clare to Wexford and Donegal.
“At this time of year, many chicks have just left the nest while in others there may be a second or third brood and the parents are still sitting on the eggs,” Mr Hatch said. “
“As far as I’m concerned there are far too many exemptions, and unfortunately the law in Ireland with regard to this [hedge cutting] is very weak. Obviously when it comes to reasons of road safety, I wouldn’t question it for a second. But there are blanket exemptions for all sorts of agricultural use – which can extend to horticulture – meaning that in people’s gardens there isn’t as a strong legal prohibition on cutting hedges as people might think.”
Mr Hatch said that regardless of what the law allows, unless it is necessary from a safety perspective, people should resist the temptation to trim their hedges for as long as possible.
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