FARMING groups such as the IFA have “a greater role to play” to encourage landowners to meet their obligations when it comes to hedge cutting on roads across Co Clare.
Lives are endangered at present due to the manner in which the current hedge cutting policy is policed across the county, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) stated as he called for a review “in view of the failure by some land owners to meet their obligations under 70 of the Roads Act”. Hedge cutting can only be carried out between September 1st and the end of February each year.
Landowners that observe the regulations are to be commended but several of their counterparts are showing no regard for the policy which needs to be strengthened, the Shannon representative outlined. “The public are entitled to use public roads that are properly maintained and are not a health and safety risk”.
Senior engineer with Clare County Council, John Leahy explained that its policy was set against the background “that local authorities have an overseeing role and responsibility to ensure that public roads are free of obstruction and impediment including the requirement that overgrown trees, verges, hedgerows etc do not interfere in any way with the effective and safe operation of the public road network”.
Under Section 70 of the Roads Act 1993, landowners are responsible for trees and hedgerows on or inside their boundaries adjacent to public roads. The Act obliges landowners and occupiers to take all reasonable care to ensure that such trees, hedges and other vegetation are not or could not become a danger to people using or working on a public road. Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 as amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 restricts the cutting of hedges during the growing season i.e. between March 1st and August 31st each year.
€95,000 was provided by the Council to facilitate hedgecutting on “the most strategically important routes across the county,” this year, Leahy confirmed. He added, “The Council can cut roadside edges where there is a risk to public safety and do not require authorisation from the Department of Transport”. He said the policy could be reviewed at Municipal District level.
Speaking at the November meeting of the Council, Cllr Flynn remarked that the motion was more relevant and accused his colleagues of tabling motions that were more suitable to the Oireachtas. “It is a flawed policy that needs to be reviewed, it has to be strengthened, health and safety on public roads is a priority. The current approach is endangering the lives of people”.
An inconsistency is approach by landowners is very frustrating, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) highlighted as he praised those that cut their hedges while acknowledging the “limited budget” available to the Council in this area. “It is time to stop pussy footing around landlords not doing their duty, is is awful to see one landlord doing a fantastic job and then go 100m up the road and another landlord is doing nothing whatsoever,” Cooney commented.
Another truck driver has had a mirror broken while travelling on an East Clare regional road, Cllr Pat Burke (FG) flagged. “I am blue in the face from talking about this. It is not good enough that a truck driver would break a mirror on a regional road in 2021. The time for talking is over particularly on regional roads, much more stronger action is needed”.
Motions on hedge cutting “have been coming up for the past seven years that I’ve been in Clare County Council,” Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Ann Norton (IND) recalled while affirming that efforts have been ignored by landowners. “Once visibility is obstructed then there is a health and safety issue,” Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) stated. “One is enough to blight the whole process, there should be stronger action taken than enforcement,” Cllr Michael Begley (IND) argued.
With more people walking the roads of Clare, the issue has become more apparent, Cllr John Crowe (FG) believed. “It is ridiculous to walk down a road when one section is so well done and the other isn’t, it is a disgrace”. He added, “we need to get our Council to put the boot in, it has to be done district by district. If we can do that, it can be solved”.
Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) suggested farming groups be utilised to tackle the negligence from some landowners. “The IFA needs to be brought into this, if someone is receiving a single farm payment it should be looked at. Maybe the total onus shouldn’t be put on Clare County Council but the IFA and a possible deduction from farm payments, they are liable for them at the end of the day. It is not easy to navigate a lot of these places especially where you have a lot of overhanging trees.
