New hedge must be planted before old one removed, farmers told

Irish Examiner

3 days ago

Farmers have been reminded that the only exceptions allowing removal of hedgerows are for farmyard expansion, widening gaps for larger machinery, or road or farm safety issues. Only the minimum necessary length of hedge can be removed.
Under road safety, an unacceptable level of risk must be identified by the Local Authority, the National Roads Authority, or the Gardaí before a hedge can be removed (for example, if a laneway is too narrow for modern machinery or commercial vehicles).
Under farm safety issues, a hedgerow in a field with a gradient in excess of 15% in arable land or 20% in grassland, as flagged on the BISS map layer, can be demonstrated to cause an unacceptable risk (for example, if a farmer wants to plough for first-time tillage, necessitating turning on a steep hill).
Since 2009, hedgerows have been designated as landscape features, and beneficiaries of CAP payments (such as BISS) are obliged to retain them, according to a recent update by Mícheál Kelly, scheme support specialist with Teagasc.
Farmers have heard a lot recently about GAEC 2, but it is GAEC 8 that deals with retention and maintenance of non-productive features such as hedges, and other areas to improve biodiversity on farms. GAEC refers to Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition in the terms and conditions for EU farm income support.
Hedgerows are vital for biodiversity, providing essential habitats and travel corridors for numerous species, while also supporting a rich array of plant and animal life.
A hedge means a line of shrubs and/or trees, maintained to form a barrier for controlling animals or marking land boundaries. It can vary from a dense barrier to individual trees. A gappy hedge, with at least 20% of hedgerow species (including briars, gorse etc.) dispersed along its length, is still considered a hedgerow.
Briars on an earthen bank are also protected landscape features. Many earthen banks on their own are recorded as national monuments, and as such are designated landscape features, afforded the same protection as hedgerows.
Even where hedgerow removal is permitted under exceptional circumstances, there are conditions attached. The work cannot be done between March 1 and August 31.
And the original landscape feature must be replaced, prior to its removal, by twice the length to be removed. This must be like-for-like: only a hedge can replace a hedge. So if 10m of hedgerow is to be removed, 20m of hedgerow must be planted in the same vicinity before the removal work can commence.
The replacement hedgerow cannot be funded under an agri-environment measure such as ACRES or the Eco-Scheme. It must consist of traditional local species and cannot include amenity species such as laurel or conifers.
New hedgerows should ideally connect with existing hedgerows or woodlands. A hedgerow or line of trees planted in front of or alongside another hedgerow, planting a line of trees, or planting a grove of trees does not fulfil the replacement requirement. Planting within the curtilage of a dwelling house is not permitted.
In designated areas (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, or National Heritage Area), prior approval from the National Parks and Wildlife Service is required for any hedgerow removal.
As field boundaries, hedgerows are also protected by Environmental Impact Assessment regulations (even if there is no BISS application). Therefore, landowners must apply for screening if they wish to remove any field boundary over 500m in length, or if removal of any field boundary would result in the creation of a field over five hectares in size, whichever is the lesser. These thresholds refer to the cumulative total over any five-year period.
EIA assessment is also required wherever proposed works are to be carried out within (or may affect) a proposed NHA or a nature reserve, or wherever proposed works may have a significant effect on the environment.
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