Your responsibility as a Landowner for hedgecutting

The County Council’s Hedge Cutting Policy was approved by the General Purposes Committee of the Council on 14th April 2003 and adopted at the full Council meeting on 26th May 2003.
The salient points contained in the Hedge Cutting Policy document include:

  1. Owner or Occupier of land shall be responsible for Hedge Cutting in accordance with the Roads Act;
  2. Council will place emphasis on verbal requests, early in the cutting season, to landowners to cut overgrown hedges;
  3. Council will serve a formal Hedge Cutting Notice in cases of non-compliance with Verbal Requests;
  4. Council will as a matter of last resort, prosecute landowners/occupiers who do not comply with Hedge Cutting Notices.

Since the introduction of the new policy document Hedge Cutting inspectors have been appointed in each electoral area to concentrate the Council’s efforts in having hedges/verges cut. Their duties include:

  1. Organise Hedge Cutting where the County Council has responsibility to do so.
  2. Liaise with the local landowners to request hedges to be cut and inform them when the hedge cutter will be in the area.
  3. Issue written requests in case of non-compliance.
  4. Keep a record of requests/warnings with a view to prosecution as a matter of last resort.

To view Donegal Co. Council Hedgecutting Policy, click here.