We’re delighted to help save a hedgerow – more than 400 metres of it!

Did you know that planning permission is needed to remove hedgerows?  They’re a key element of our history and landscape and vital for a thriving and varied wildlife. Our booklet Hedgerows and Verges in Herefordshire explains why.

That’s why we’re delighted that we were able to add our support earlier this Spring and keep this hedgerow alive.

Maintaining habitats, food sources, wildlife corridors, our rural and archaeological history, flood protection and a carbon sink – all in one go!

This application (220072/H) for removal, near the River Teme at Leintwardine, was in order to make 2 larger fields out of 4. When our planning volunteer investigated, she found the 4 field names on the Tithe map of 1800: Paradingle, Paradingle Meadow, Cot Meadow and Pillinger. As well as being over 200 years old, the hedgerow forms part of the landscape setting of an ancient monument, Brandon Camp. The Hedgerows Regulations forbid removal of such important historic hedgerows.

Also, we argued that removing this hedgerow would be a loss in the fight against climate change. Both the Council and government are seeking to increase hedgerow coverage as a way of reducing CO² in the atmosphere.

You can read our letter to the Planning Officer here. The Council has refused the application to remove this substantial hedge – over 400 metres long – and has issued a Hedgerow Retention Notice. Unless an appeal can prove the Council has either made a mistake in law or been totally unreasonable, this protects the hedgerow forever.

So, planning is boring??

At first glance it could seem a dull subject, full of rules and regulations. But as this success story shows, planning decisions are vital in shaping our future environment.

Many of our volunteers as you can see joined CPREHerefordshire because of our focus on planning: helping protect our lovely county by making sure all planning decisions follow the recommendations.