HEDGEROW ISSUE GOES TO MINISTER
Heather Kidd, Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen, is to raise the issue of mass hedgerow removal with David Heath MP, the Lib Dem Minister of State for Agriculture and Food. This comes after the withdrawal of an application to remove 7 miles of hedgerow in the Chirbury area after mass public protest.
Heather said “In this day and age it is outrageous that environmental damage on this scale could be contemplated. The planning process is over simplified. The criteria used to define which hedgerows are ‘important’ are, in practice, of limited use in protecting these key features of our countryside.”
“Also, there is no requirement upon the applicant to carry out relevant ecological surveys, at the right time of year, on the hedgerows he wants to grub up. This flies in the face of other legislation (both UK and European) regarding the protection of flora, fauna and their habitats.
“More fundamentally, the removal of hedgerows from a farm conflicts with the spirit behind schemes such as the Countryside Stewardship grant schemes run by Natural England which pay farmers to plant hedgerows!
“I will be writing to David Heath on this matter and inviting him to come to Chirbury to see for himself the scale of what was proposed.
“I know that many other organisations such as the CPRE and the Ramblers are putting similar pressure on the Government.”
.