New hedgerow laws - coppicing to 30th April?

[teslacoils]

Have just had an email from the rpa re new hedgerow laws that they get to police.

Reading the guidance:

Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming

Find out when you are permitted to cut and trim hedgerows on or next to land used for agriculture.

www.gov.uk

It appears we can now coppice until 30th of April. Iirc it used to be 31st march.

Gives me another month on the snippers then

 

[Kidds]

So you can't trim the hedge mechanically where the machine will have been and gone in seconds but you can chop it down completely until the end of April.
How does that make any sense? A cut off at the end of March made much more sense to me and to nesting birds.

 

[Goweresque]

I've often wondered about the 'coppicing' exemption. Does it mean I can crack on until 30th April with my excavator shear grab then?

 

[Jackov Altraids]

So you can't trim the hedge mechanically where the machine will have been and gone in seconds but you can chop it down completely until the end of April.
How does that make any sense? A cut off at the end of March made much more sense to me and to nesting birds.

I don't think you know wtf you are talking about.
Yes, you can mechanically cut in seconds, doing literally miles in a day.
How much is anyone ever going to coppice in a day. . . . .

And a hedge that needs coppicing will be easier to check for nesting birds, although there is unlikely to be any before May anyway.

I don't see any evidence that the 'consultation' made any difference and they simply done what they wanted which is ballcocks.
And why does it only apply to hedges on agricultural land?
Have they trained birds to know the difference?

 

[Kidds]

I don't think you know wtf you are talking about.
Yes, you can mechanically cut in seconds, doing literally miles in a day.
How much is anyone ever going to coppice in a day. . . . .

And a hedge that needs coppicing will be easier to check for nesting birds, although there is unlikely to be any before May anyway.

I don't see any evidence that the 'consultation' made any difference and they simply done what they wanted which is ballcocks.
And why does it only apply to hedges on agricultural land?
Have they trained birds to know the difference?

Bollox, there were birds nesting in the hedges here in March this year.
And you say I don't know wtf I am talking about.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Bollox, there were birds nesting in the hedges here in March this year.
And you say I don't know wtf I am talking about.

What were they?

 

[Kidds]

What were they?

Blackbirds, sparrows and robins were the ones I specifically noticed. I mentioned it elsewhere on here at the time.

Can I cut trees down now or not?

Wanting to clear a small patch middle of a field so we can go straight through it. But are we limited to bps 1/March or doesn't it matter? I can't find the rules

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Blackbirds, sparrows and robins were the ones I specifically noticed. I mentioned it elsewhere on here at the time.

Can I cut trees down now or not?

Wanting to clear a small patch middle of a field so we can go straight through it. But are we limited to bps 1/March or doesn't it matter? I can't find the rules

thefarmingforum.co.uk

Things have only just started nesting in hedges here.
Apologies for my original over zealous comment.
But that is what is wrong about regulations like these.
It would be wrong for you to trim in March, but you can.
It would be OK for me to trim in April, but I can't.

 

[Goweresque]

How much is anyone ever going to coppice in a day. . . . .

A hell of a lot with an excavator shear. I reckon I could do 50m/hr with mine, pretty much down to ground level. More if it wasn't too overgrown.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

A hell of a lot with an excavator shear. I reckon I could do 50m/hr with mine, pretty much down to ground level. More if it wasn't too overgrown.

But it would be unusual to see miles of it done I would think.
And I would imagine that there is some level of assumption that coppicing/ steeping / laying would be done by hand.

 

[Goweresque]

But it would be unusual to see miles of it done I would think.
And I would imagine that there is some level of assumption that coppicing/ steeping / laying would be done by hand.

Hence my point. Where's the definition of what exactly coppicing comprises? If it means reducing a hedge to ground level by cutting the stems off (rather than flailing it) does a excavator shear not meet that criteria? What difference to the wildlife does it make whether its done by hand with a chainsaw or by a mechanical 'hand' attached to a 360?

Seems to me to be another example of the people who write this stuff having very little knowledge of the techniques and machinery thats out there nowadays.

 

[GEMS]

Hence my point. Where's the definition of what exactly coppicing comprises? If it means reducing a hedge to ground level by cutting the stems off (rather than flailing it) does a excavator shear not meet that criteria? What difference to the wildlife does it make whether its done by hand with a chainsaw or by a mechanical 'hand' attached to a 360?

Seems to me to be another example of the people who write this stuff having very little knowledge of the techniques and machinery thats out there nowadays.

Did you respond to the consultation ? they would have taken your views on board ?

 

[Goweresque]

Did you respond to the consultation ? they would have taken your views on board ?

No public consultation is ever done with the aim of taking the views of anyone else on board, they are done to tick the box 'We've done a consultation', and to then implement the decisions that were already made previously.