Removing old hedge - do I need planning permission?

sue_balu

It sounds like a joke but my contractor who I had asked to remove about 20 metres of scraggy old thorn hedge at the front of my garden (boundary with the country lane) advised me I need planning permission from the local authority(Powys) first!!
I just couldnt believe this is for real! I do plan to re-plant a more attractive native species hedge.
I have spoken to the planning department who have said I must fill in a form which they are sending me.
What legal powers have they got over how I landscape my garden?
This seems like big brother gone mad to me. Has anyone else had this experience.

tanith

I just found this on a countryside site... seems to explain it quite cleary...it was news to me also.. If you google 'Hedgerow Regulations' you find some interesting info.

HEDGES

Under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997, it is against the law to remove most countryside hedges without permission. To get permission to remove a hedgerow, you must apply to the Planning Department. If the Authority decide to prohibit removal of an important hedgerow, it must let you know within 6 weeks.

If you remove a hedgerow without permission (whether it is important or not) you may face an unlimited fine. You may also have to replace the hedgerow.

A guidance leaflet entitled The Hedgerow Regulations – Your Questions Answered is available from the Planning Department.

Lord_Gardener

Yes, you do need permission! We get asked this all the time - to remove hedges that is!

perc

Is there no limit to what you have to ask permission to do in your own home :wall:

dougk_2

You wish to replace a scraggly headrow with native spieces so -

If you were to "manage" the hedgerow - i.e. remove dead sections and replant then you should be ok , so maybe it would be easier and cheaper anyway to do this "management" over a period of time yourself?

Alan_M_2

That period of time being what? A weekend?:D

It does seem to read a little nonsence, but is your garden actually classed as countryside?

That regulation reads as though it's designed to stop farmers tearing down miles of hedgrow that are land bounderies rather than stopping the home owner doing a bit of landscape gardening.

Bah! I remember when it was all fields anyway:rotfl:

sue_balu

Further to my original post I have found more out about the Regulations on this subject.
Thought I'd let you all know.....
Even though the local planning dept insisted that I have to notify them under the "The Hedgerow Regulations 1997" prior to working on my hedge and "Lord Gardener" agreeing with their assertion, the Regulations in fact state that they do not apply to domestic boundary hedges (regardless of length).
I quote "Arrangement of Regulations 3. Application of Regulations...... These Regulations do not apply to any hedgerow within the curtilage of, or marking the boundary of the curtilage of, a dwelling-house"

When I pointed this out to the planning officer he had to concede that I was in fact correct and that the Regulations do not apply in my situation!!!

Imagine, him a professional who hasnt read the law he implements and me an uneducated member of the public who took a few minutes to read and interpret the law and then to educate him!!

Needless to say I will be doing what I like with my hedge and will NOT be filling in any forms to get their permission to so do.
YO!:D

wendym

But you do have to be careful not to remove any habitat in which birds may currently be living, so you'll probably have to wait a bit.

And that's not planning law, but under the jurisdiction of the police, who can prosecute.

cazzabw

Hi there - first visit here, so I hope someone can help me. Our neighbours have applied for planning permission to stick a 2-storey, 3 bedroom detached house at the bottom of their garden with road access (their house is the end of the line). The back window will overlook our garden, and the side window will look straight into our living room and garden. If they build it, it will also depreciate our property by up to 10% (we've been advised), aswell as box in our garden (we already have a church to the left, a house at the bottom, and now potentially a house to the right of the garden). We are of course objecting to this, but we have no idea if we have a leg to stand on legally. We've been told that the council won't take any of this into consideration for agreeing planning permission and that they will only consider harm to the environment and a right to light as issues . Can anyone help??

tanith

Cazzabw Welcome to the site... I just wanted to say your request would get more attention if you posted it as a new discussion , it might get lost here.. I am sure someone will point you in the right direction...

sue_balu

wendym wrote:

But you do have to be careful not to remove any habitat in which birds may currently be living, so you'll probably have to wait a bit.

And that's not planning law, but under the jurisdiction of the police, who can prosecute.

Gosh I wasnt aware of this...please can you enlighten me what law I could be prosecuted under?

Its a wonder I havent been prosecuted already when I've been cutting the hedge over the years then - as I have always tried to keep it looking neat. Mind you we live in the country and the birds have got plenty of undisturbed hedgerows to choose from for their nests and our cats tend to mean sensible birds nest elsewhere!