Tag Archives: hedge cutting

“IF landowners would cut hedges and Council would tar roads, we’d have a great county,” a recent meeting of East Clare councillors was told.  The remarks were made by Councillor Pat Burke, on foot of two motions tabled before the Killaloe Municipal District on the issue of hedge cutting. The topic was brought up by cathaoirleach, Councillor Alan O’Callaghan and Councillor Joe Cooney.  Councillor O’Callaghan said overgrown hedges were a constant concern. “Great work has been done last year by Clare County Council and the farmers who took responsibility and there was a vast improvement last year,” he said. “This year, it looks on the ground as if there’s a lot of regional roads that haven’t been done. Are the contractors there and fulfilling their duty? Are they coming when they’re called or putting it off? A push needs to be done. Some junctions are way behind.” Councillor Cooney seconded the motion and proposed his own. “My concern is that …

MORE than 130 landowners in the Killaloe Municipal District have been contacted and reminded about their obligations to maintain hedges while the season is open until the end of February. The figure was revealed at last week’s meeting of the district committee, on foot of a motion from Councillor Pat Burke. The Whitegate member sought an update after raising the issue previously last November. There was widespread support when Councillor Burke raised the matter and told the meeting that drivers, particularly those in high-sided vehicles, were losing windscreens and wing mirrors on a regular basis.  In a written response to Councillor Burke, Niamh Madden, Senior Executive Engineer, said many landowners had complied with correspondence from the authority, but that a number of them had not.  “Between September 2021 and December 2021, one hundred and thirty five letters have been sent by the Killaloe Municipal District to land owners/occupiers outlining their obligations under under S70 of the Roads Act 1993 and …

THE Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District has called for a major media campaign next month to make landowners aware of their responsibilities when it comes to hedge-cutting. At the July meeting of the local authority, Councillor Joe Cooney noted that hedge-cutting, other than essential safety work, is prohibited between the start of March and the end of August, but insisted that more publicity is needed so that works can be carried out promptly from September 1. “There’s a lot of traffic on the roads at the moment,” the Fine Gael member said. “There’ll be schools traffic returning at the end of August and the start of September and we need to make sure that hedge cutting is being done, within the guidelines, to ensure safety.” The Broadford man welcomed a response from Senior Engineer John Leahy which outlined that funding of €95,000 has been allocated to hedge-cutting this year. “This is fantastic to see,” said Councillor Cooney. “Now is …

CLARE County Council is seeking to complement its hedge-cutting programme this autumn by facilitating landowners and community groups in maintaining hedgerows throughout County Clare. The Community Hedge Cutting Grant Scheme, which was the first of its kind to be developed in Ireland when it was piloted in 2013, will see €10,000 being provided to deal with the local road network over the coming autumn and winter seasons. Applications are being invited from communities and groups before September 30, 2020. Each application will be assessed and a grant of €50 per kilometre of hedgerow will be paid, subject to certain conditions and available resources. The scheme will provide some financial assistance to communities and groups that undertake hedge-cutting and the cutting of overhanging trees, and will assist landowners in complying with their responsibilities under Section 70 of the Roads Act, 1993. John Corry, Administrative Officer, Transportation, Clare County Council, said: “We are confident that this scheme, complemented by the Council’s ongoing …

IFA Environment chairman, Harold Kingston has said  the review of the  controls under the Wildlife Act governing the control of burning and hedge-cutting launched by the Minister for Arts Heritage & the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys is long overdue. “ The current rules are impractical and unnecessary and have been in need of amendment for a more flexible approach.The period of time for hedge-cutting should be extended as the window to carry out the necessary management of hedges and trees are impractical from both farming and a public safety point of view,” Mr Kingston said. In relation to the burning of heather, IFA Hill Committee chairman, Pat Dunne said that IFA has put forward that the dates needed to be changed in line with other countries such as the UK, where the burning dates are from September 1 until mid-April, as opposed to Ireland where the date is between September 1 and February 28. Pat Dunne said burning of heather is …