People can be taken to court for not cutting their hedges

With the looming budget, "an emergency fund" to deal with overgrown hedgerows should be considered because it's often difficult to locate landowners, "who may not even be in the country", to bill them for service. 

This was the view of Cllr Felim Gurn, at the latest council meeting where he said there is an on-going problem with overgrown hedgerows on country lanes that are making it impassable for school buses to provide services for school children. 
There was a very lengthy discussion on the topic at this month's meeting of Leitrim County Council with many councillors voicing their annoyance that the issue persists and saying they have received abuse from individuals.  
"We are the ones getting abuse from keyboard warriors 24/7," said Cllr Gurn.

He continued: "It is normally down to a small number of landowners who won’t maintain their hedgerows. The existing grant of €75 per km for cutting hedges may not be enough to encourage maintenance of hedgerows." 
He asked if members receive an update on the number of hedge cutting grant applications received per municipal district and how much has been paid out this year, and asked the council to include an emergency fund in the annual budget to resolve this issue.

Cllr Paddy O'Rourke said the same people tend to avail of the grant year in, year out. "They tickle the top of the briars with a flail and that is not hedge cutting; hedging is done with a saw and cutting the heavy boughs that lean over roads and create a canopy and prevents sun coming through a winter's day and thawing ice."

He said the majority of offenders are "forestry owners, be they private or state forests" and said that the grant is not sufficient saying the insurance alone is "very steep". 

He said a "before and after campaign" could "amplify the benefits of hedge cutting" and said that in time, people will start to "turn against those who aren't compliant". 

Cllr Brendan Barry asked if an individual is insured by a falling bough, could the landowner be liable with Cllr Des Guckian supporting the motion. 

Cllr Padraig Fallon said he believed it's an "excellent scheme" but added "we can't see a situation arise again where road users aren't using a road and service providers can't use it" and that an emergency fund should be available for such instances and "bill the landowners after it's done."

Cllr Sean McDermott said the issue has been raised "time after time again" but has yet to be dealt with, in his view, and said that correctly cut hedges also reveal the countryside. 

Cllr Gerry Dolan said that something has to be done "because there are more mirrors being broken off lorries" and added that those who never avail of the grant are "who we should be going after."

Cllr Mary Bohan said it was unfair on those who are availing of the grant and cutting their hedges. "People have said to me that they've cut their hedges and someone else hasn't but they don't see any consequences for the person who hasn't cut theirs." 
The report by Economic Development said uptake on the grant has significantly improved in recent years and is well advertised with all previous applicants for the grant sent the hedge cutting grant application form each year.

During the 2022/23 season 57 grants were approved with 22 in South Leitrim and 35 in North Leitrim and in total 243.1km of hedges were cut and the overall grant paid was €18,233. 
The application process reopened on September 1 for the 2023/2024 Hedge Cutting season and there have been 13 applications to date for this grant. Provision for additional funding for hedgecutting has been included in the 2024 budget.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Justin Warnock said he believed there needed to be an emergency hedge cutting fund in place and "we should not see services withdrawn; going to a school, home help or ambulance services; that no road should be left impassable."

He concluded: "It's us as councillors that takes the flack for this and we shouldn't have had to listen to some of the stuff that we've had to."

Glenade Lough is promoted as part of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands he said and "you can't get access up and down that road."

Acting CEO Joseph Gilhooley stressed the "responsibility lies with the landowner to ensure that they take care of hedges and trees and that they do not cause a hazard to people using public roads."

He continued that the draft budget is to be discussed next week and can be debated at that point. 

He added that the setting up of an emergency fund is a "recipe for a bottomless pit of requests."

He said that the council "can prioritise the aspect of enforcement" and target those who are "persistent offenders" adding "we can also take a number of test cases to court."

Cllr Gurn suggested starting off with an emergency fund of around €9,000 and "we do test cases and take the landowners to court." 

Cllr Barry said that it should be highlighted that if someone's vehicle is damaged due to overgrown hedges, the landowner is liable with Cllr McDermott saying it was important to emphasise that if people don't cut their hedges, they will be taken to court. 

Cllr Warnock again stressed that he felt an emergency fund needed to be in place to ensure vital services are not pulled. "If a service is going to go on a 20 mile section of road due to one or two individuals, then they need to be done and bill the landowners."

Mr Gilhooley noted there was "one road recently that caused a lot of anxiety" adding "but that's one road" and said that "stepping in with emergency funding" should only be done "in very limited circumstances".