Renewed calls for action on overgrown hedges across Mayo

There has been a renewed sense of urgency to tackle the issue of overgrown hedges in Mayo.

Once again, the issue was raised at a Municipal District meeting, with the issue previously rearing its head at the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District meeting.

This time, it was the turn of the representatives at the Claremorris/Swinford Municipal District meeting to voice their opinions on the thorny topic.

First to broach the issue was Cllr Patsy O’Brien, who spoke on the issues generated by the ban of the practice up until September 1.

“From September 1, the contractor should be in place.

“People don’t ask for a lot. A lot of people just want the roads in good shape and the bushes in good shape.

“I’m not overly critical but I’m critical that in the future we should have a contractor for each area, and that they’re not swapping back and over.

“I’ve nothing against the contractor, he’s doing his job and a good job, but at the end of the day there has to be more put into it.”

Cllr Gerry Murray was also quick to talk about the issue, and told a story of Aurivo refusing to deliver to customers due to the risk of damage to vehicles from overgrown trees on roadways.

“I saw a situation in between Swinford and Kiltimagh where hedge cutting was completed in the last few weeks. Two trees are meeting at the top.

“We have ash trees dead all along the road. We have a serious, serious problem.

“They’re taking out the bit at the bottom, but the top is top-heavy, so if there’s any wind, that’s what lands out on the road.

“I don’t know what to do about it. Coming into budget time it might be something to look at. We are going to have to do something in one year that eradicates that.

“The bit that's further bottom is a waste of time, it's the tops, and they're catching mirrors, catching tops of tractors, trucks, pulling mirrors off.”

Tom Gilligan, the Director of Services in Mayo County Council, reiterated the responsibility of private landowners to tackle the issue.

“It's a massive problem. We are one of the largest counties, we are, you know, there is a lot, lot of hedges and forestry that is within the county. But also to state as well that it is the responsibility of private landowners to maintain their own hedges and their own trees as well.

“I recently got a list from each of the MDs, but a lot of the trees that I identified are located on private property and it is the owner's responsibility. And I think it's something we need to do.

“We did have a hedge funding stakeholders forum established and we need to reactivate that again because we need to get everyone round the table.

“You know, we need to get the local authority, the ESB, private landowners, we need to get, we need to get everyone to do it in a coherent way. We do need to adopt that kind of joint thinking as well. Because it isn't enough to just go and do individual premises.”

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