Kerry council in push for hedge trimming

A local authority is to crack down on landowners who fail to properly maintain roadside trees and hedges.

With overgrown trees and vegetation, some roads were compared to tunnels and were potential traffic hazards.

Kerry County Council is also introducing a tracking system to register complaints and pinpoint people who regularly refuse to comply with the 1993 Roads Act. Under the law, it is the landowner’s responsibility to trim hedges and other vegetation along public roads.

The issue arose at the council’s special operations committee meeting in Tralee, yesterday. It emerged that letters were sent to 5,848 landowners in the last year. A total of 472 who did not comply with the letters received 21-day notices to undertake the work, while 108 cases are still being investigated. Roads’ enforcement officer Sean Barry said there was a high compliance level among the majority of landowners, but there had been problems with some who acted only as a last resort when a financial penalty was likely.

There were also difficulties with corporate bodies such as Coillte, the Parks and Wildlife Service along with investment companies, Bank of Ireland and forestry investment funds, he added.

There were also cases where landowners, residing overseas, could not be contacted. Mr Barry said it was impossible to inspect all of Kerry’s 5,000km road network and his office depended on information supplied by area staff, local councillors and the public.

Fine Gael councillor John Sheahan said the legislation was weak and the situation had become very serious in some areas.

Independent councillor Brendan Cronin criticised “cute hoors” who resisted the council all the way.