CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL has just launched an initiative which will see people being paid for maintaining the county’s hedges.
The Community Hedge Cutting Grant Scheme will give landowners and community groups money for the trouble of cutting the hedgerows.
Piloted in 2013, the scheme will provide €10,000 to people to keep the road network in good knick over the autumn and winter.
Applications are being sought between now and 30 October 2015.
“Each application will be assessed and a grant of €50 per km of hedgerow will be paid, subject to certain conditions and available resources,” according to the council.
The scheme will provide some financial assistance to communities and groups that undertake hedgecutting and the cutting of overhanging trees, and will assist landowners in complying with their responsibilities.
The Roads Act, 1993 stipulates that all growth emanating from any part of the roadside boundary structure or from within the land protected by same is the responsibility of the landowner.
“From a road safety point of view, it is important that this responsibility is acknowledged and embraced by roadside landowners,” said John Corry, administrative officer of transportation.
“And the Community Hedge Cutting Grant Scheme is intended to provide support in this context to offset some of the costs associated with hedgecutting.
“Our objective is that by the start of the nesting season in March 2016, much of the worst affected local roads in the county will be significantly enhanced in their capacity to accommodate the traffic that uses them.”
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