Environmental campaigners recently met the Constables’ Committee, a representative from Growth, Housing and Environment and members of the Island’s farming community to express their concerns over the practice of machinery being used to strip back hedgerows to ‘ground zero’.
They warned that it is killing wildlife, including bats, birds, toads and hedgehogs.
Although no formal changes were established during the meeting, it was agreed that Islanders would now be asked to leave between eight and 12 inches of growth on the banques.
However, Jo McAllister, the JSPCA’s chief vet – who was at the meeting – said she was disappointed that her suggestions for more of a compromise on the methods by which banques are cut were treated as unworkable and impractical by the group.
She said: ‘In a sense, it was a good outcome that the flail operators and the farmers agreed to change their methods but I was disappointed by the sense that people were not willing to pay the price in order to save wildlife.
‘It is a shame that there wasn’t much support for my idea of a compromise on how the banques could be cut, either by staggering it out or allowing certain lanes to be protected from cutting.
‘What many people don’t understand is that we [the JSPCA] are left picking up the pieces after certain animals are injured or displaced after branchage. For example, in 2018 our staff hand-reared over 150 fledglings during the eight-week summer period.’
Additionally, Dru Burdon, of the Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group, said that while the agreed outcomes are a positive step, they do not go far enough in protecting Jersey’s wildlife.
‘It really is brilliant that conversations are finally being had but it isn’t enough to protect much of the wildlife that lives in the hedges.
‘And it goes way beyond hedgehogs. People pay attention when hedgehogs get slashed because they are cute, but no one kicks up a fuss about the toads, insects or slow-worms that get killed throughout the process. To be honest, I don’t know what the solution is as you can’t force every gardener to look before they cut every hedge,’ she said.
