Your Questions Answered
The following information is taken from the leaflet - 'The Hedgerows Regulations: Your Questions Answered' published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). More detailed guidance can be found in 'The Hedgerows Regulations 1997: A Guide to the Law and Good Practice' also from DEFRA.
No, if it:
You also do not need permission to remove your hedgerow:
There are further exceptions for reasons of national defence and for removal by the Highways Agency in England.
Please use the links below to jump to the following sections of this document or scroll down to read the entire text:
- Do I need permission to remove my hedgerow, either in whole or in part?
- Does removing a hedgerow just mean grubbing it up?
- Who can seek permission to remove a hedgerow?
- How do I ask permission to remove a hedgerow?
- What happens after the authority have received the notice?
- What if the hedgerow is not 'important'?
- What if the hedgerow is 'important'?
- What if I hear nothing from the authority?
- How long does a permission last?
- What if the authority refuses permission? Can I challege the hedgerow retention notice?
- How long does a hedgerow retention last?
- What if I remove a hedgerow without asking for permission?
- Do I have to replace a hedgerow if I remove it without permission[
- Are there grants and advice available for restoring or maintaining hedgerows?
1. Do I need permission to remove my hedgerow, either in whole or in part?
Yes, if your hedgerow is on, or runs alongside:- Agricultural land.
- Common land, including town or village greens.
- Land used for forestry or the breeding or keeping of horses, ponies or donkeys.
- A Local Nature Reserve or Site of Special Scientific Interest.
No, if it:
- Is shorter than 20 metres (unless both ends join up with other hedgerow or it is part of a longer hedgerow).
- Is in, or borders, your garden.
- Gaps of 20 metres or less are counted as part of the hedgerow. A gap may be a break in the vegetation or it may be filled, by for example, a gate.
You also do not need permission to remove your hedgerow:
To get access:
- Either in place of an existing opening, provided that you plant a new stretch of hedgerow to fill the origianl entrance, orwhen another means of entry is not available, except at disproportionate cost.
- To gain temporary entry to help in an emergency.
- To comply with a statutory plant or forestry health order.
- To comply with a statutory notice, for preventing interference with electric lines and apparatus.
- In connection with statutory drainage or flood defence work.
- To implement a planning permission (but in the case of permitted development rights, most hedgerow removal will require prior permission).
There are further exceptions for reasons of national defence and for removal by the Highways Agency in England.
Normal management of your hedgerows does not require prior permission.
2. Does removing a hedgerow just mean grubbing it up?
No. Removal also includes other actions that result in the hedgerow being destroyed, but coppicing, laying and removal of dead or diseased shrubs or trees are treated as normal management.3. Who can seek permission to remove a hedgerow?
Only the landowner, agricultural tenant, farm business tenant or certain utilities, such as gas companies.4. How do I ask permission to remove a hedgerow?
You send the local planning authority a hedgerow removal notice. There is no charge for this. See Hedgerow Regulations - Contacts5. What happens after the authority have received the notice?
They visit the site to see if the hedgerow is 'important' and may enter your land. To be 'important' the hedgerow must (i) be at least 30 years old, and (ii) meet at least one of 8 set criteria. See Hedgerow Regulations - Criteria for Important Hedgerows. The criteria identify hedgerows of particular archaeological, historical, wildlife or landscape value.The authority must also consult the local parish council.
