Hedge cutting

VeeEmmy

Is a horse pasture considered "cultivated land" as far as the Wildlife Act is concerned? Last year or year before, it was tilled and sown with good grazing grass. There's no health and safety problem with the hedge that is actually "mine," excepting the baby wrens' health and safety. The hedge was cut, side and top, with the same monster used on roadways. I'm new here, so I didn't question the operator...
Was that hedge cutting activity okay within the exceptions to the Wildlife Act?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sounds like it shouldn't have been cut. You say the hedge is yours, so who cut it?

VeeEmmy

The owner of the pasture had it cut, on his side (and the top)....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You can report it if you wish.

VeeEmmy

Thanks Srameen. It's awkward... I'll inquire via Birdwatch Ireland or National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Zoo4m8

It's quite straightforward , no hedge cutting between March1 and August31, though County Councils will tell you they have 'dispensations' . What you do now is up to you....wrens nesting in a hedge? a little unusual..

Half-cocked

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

wrens nesting in a hedge? a little unusual..

I've had wrens nesting in my privet hedge - as you say, unusual. I think if there is a really thick mass of branches forming a inpenetrable mass they will nest in it.

VeeEmmy

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

It's quite straightforward , no hedge cutting between March1 and August31, though County Councils will tell you they have 'dispensations' . What you do now is up to you....

The grey area to me is the list of exceptions in the statute:
"40. —(1) It shall be an offence for a person to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy, during the period beginning on the 15th day of April and ending

on the 31st day of August in any year, any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated or in course of cultivation for agriculture or forestry.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in relation to—

(a) the destroying, in the ordinary course of agriculture or forestry, of any vegetation growing on or in any hedge or ditch;..."

(http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1976/act/39/section/40/enacted/en/html)
I don't consider a grazing pasture to be particularly cultivated, but they did till it last year or the year before, seed it and grow new, good grass... It's not looking so cultivated this year. Perhaps I am reading this wrong??

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

wrens nesting in a hedge? a little unusual..

I don't know if the nest was in the hedge, but they "hang out" in the hedge as chicks and come out when the parent finds them for feeding on nearby surfaces. Video I made for my grandchildren last year- https://youtu.be/CdBSXUOdUmI

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

A grazing pasture is absolutely cultivated land.

VeeEmmy

That's what I was unclear on technically, even though it's not in great shape this year, and hence my wondering if the exception applies to this instance. There is a buffer space between the hedges and the area the horses are in, so they don't graze on the hedges. They did the hedges in September last year, and let me know/asked ahead of time re: the one on our shared boundary. So I'm miffed that they did it now when the babies are still around. Oh well.... what's done is done. Thanks for your input, Srameen.

Zoo4m8

You are confusing land clearance for cultivating with ordinary hedge cutting..cultivated land is ploughed and tilled to put it simply. grazing pasture is cultivated to establish the grass and once established is no longer considered cultivated..and I should know .
You have a simple case of hedge cutting out of season if done between March 1 and August 31..
Your Wrens, if not nesting in the hedge , are in little or no danger from a hedge cutter...

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

What done is done but was done illegally. Report it for goodness sake or it will happen year after tear.

Woodville56

Or perhaps why not go and have a diplomatic word with the landowner in the knowledge that you now know what they did was wrong by cutting the hedgerow during the closed period. In the first instance , maybe a bit of neighborly diplomacy might be a better recourse rather than drawing down the authorities on them? If that doesn't work, by all means involve the NPWS.