Councillor wants members to have more say in hedge trimming programme in Mayo
A MAYO councillor wants elected members to have more say over how hedge cutting operates in the county.
Claremorris-based Councillor Richard Finn has tabled a notice of motion on the matter for next Monday's meeting of Mayo County Council.
His motion sets out: 'Considering the widespread dissatisfaction amongst councillors in relation to hedge trimming around the county, calling on councillors to consider the following in their areas:
'1. That councillors ring-fence 60% of the hedge trimming budget to be allocated by councillors only in their areas.
'2. That councillors have a choice of using this for hedge and verge trimming and/or clearing the centres of country roads of grass and weeds in order to have some say in where these monies are spent.
'3. That councillors have full autonomy in relation to the newly supported concept in dealing with overarching trees.'
In a written response from the head of roads in advance of the meeting, Councillor Finn was informed that legislation places responsibility for the maintenance of roadside hedges on the owners/occupiers of adjoining lands. For this to be implemented in a shared manner, the council established a hedge cutting forum with various stakeholders, and a draft policy has been prepared and will be presented at the next meeting of the roads and transportation strategic policy committee.
Advising on the specific items raised by the councillor, Paul Dolan set out the following:
1. The hedge cutting budget should be allocated when preparing the annual roadworks scheme, with the roads selected at municipal district workshops with the members. These roads should be included in the roadworks scheme. Priority should be given to roads with schools, churches, community facilities, etc. The municipal district budget should accordingly be allocated on a priority basis and not apportioned between elected members.
2. The hedge cutting budget should only be used for hedge cutting. Clearing the centre of country roads should be undertaken from local road maintenance funding on notice of motion allocations.
3. Dealing with overarching trees should also be part of the hedge cutting programme, as detailed above, particularly as in many locations landowners permission may be required. It may be prudent that municipal districts allocate a fixed amount of hedge cutting budget to deal with these overarching trees.
In certain circumstances, Mayo County Council will also issue hedge/tree cutting notices where hedges/trees/overhanging branches are considered dangerous and the landowner is not taking action.