“DEVASTATION of the countryside” caused by a failure to carry out branchage work within established guidelines has drawn sharp criticism from a parishioner in St Lawrence.
Sue Hardy, a fomer Blue Badge walking guide, said she was “in despair” after seeing two men working on a stretch of road close to her house.
In a letter to the JEP, Mrs Hardy said the end result of the work, which involved the duo using a strimmer and leaf-blower, was “wanton destruction.
The branchage law dates from 1914 and requires the occupiers of land to cut back roadside hedges. Enforcement measures are largely focused on two inspection visits every summer, the first in late June or early July and the second in September.
Mrs Hardy said that there were regular instances of workers being deployed to branchage work without being given proper instructions.
Guidelines for branchage state that a minimum of five centimetres of growth should be left, and the material removed should be cleared up.
“The vegetation is reduced to bare earth, crumbling into the road, and the cuttings are just blown back onto the bank,” she said. “It’s distressing to see when it’s not done properly.”
Mrs Hardy said that in the same way as the person responsible for carrying out branchage could be fined for failure to undertake it, there should be fines for doing it wrongly.
She said she was concerned about the wider “balance of nature”, with roadside plants being important for insects and birdlife.
Constables Committee chair Mike Jackson said that any parishioner with concerns about branchage should take up the matter with their parish hall.
“The Constable, or roads inspectors, can take the matter up with the landowner,” he said.
