Ditches

DaDerv

I am debating removing a ditch doing some slight reclamation.

It's based along an avenue that runs perpendicular from the road to the yard, which has become overgrown and I want to start using again. It consists mainly of briars and scrub with a few trees. I only want to do one side of the avenue as the other is mainly trees. On the maps it shows as a ditch.

Is it possible to remove these without planning permission or such? Or is that a requirement? Are there cross compliance issues here? Would I risk penalties?

Base price

DaDerv wrote: »

I am debating removing a ditch doing some slight reclamation.

It's based along an avenue that runs perpendicular from the road to the yard, which has become overgrown and I want to start using again. It consists mainly of briars and scrub with a few trees. I only want to do one side of the avenue as the other is mainly trees. On the maps it shows as a ditch.

Is it possible to remove these without planning permission or such? Or is that a requirement? Are there cross compliance issues here? Would I risk penalties?

There are cross compliance issues. As far as I know you cannot remove a ditch/hedge unless you replant the same length on another part of the farm.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Base price wrote: »

There are cross compliance issues. As far as I know you cannot remove a ditch/hedge unless you replant the same length on another part of the farm.

Isn't there something about having it planted before you knock the old ditch?

Base price

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Isn't there something about having it planted before you knock the old ditch?

I think your are correct.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/remove-hedgerows-stone-walls-ditches-peril/

Sam Kade

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Isn't there something about having it planted before you knock the old ditch?

Jaysus, they love making things awkward :mad:
I know a few big farmers that leveled ditches that never replaced them elsewhere.

st1979

Bit unfair if you got lots of small awkward fields and next door levelled every ditch in the place. You are at a disadvantage forever more. Harder to design paddock system and higher cost of hedge cutting forever more. 2 farms adjoining me have no hedges at all apart from boundary.
What happens if you go lease a farm and previous farmer took ditch out since 2011 that went unnoticed will the new farmer have to replace the ditch

Buford T. Justice XIX

st1979 wrote: »

Bit unfair if you got lots of small awkward fields and next door levelled every ditch in the place. You are at a disadvantage forever more. Harder to design paddock system and higher cost of hedge cutting forever more. 2 farms adjoining me have no hedges at all apart from boundary.
What happens if you go lease a farm and previous farmer took ditch out since 2011 that went unnoticed will the new farmer have to replace the ditch

A lot of the land bounding me was bought in the last 30 years and there isn't a ditch to be seen bar the boundry ditch and one lad cut that down and threw it into mine:mad:.

He didn't like it much when I threw it back:D

Between being unable to knock ditches, not being able to spray them to keep down weeds and keep current flowing along the electric fence and only being able to hedgecut ditches when ground isn't able to carry machinery, it's one hell of a PITA.

Sam Kade

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

A lot of the land bounding me was bought in the last 30 years and there isn't a ditch to be seen bar the boundry ditch and one lad cut that down and threw it into mine:mad:.

He didn't like it much when I threw it back:D

Between being unable to knock ditches, not being able to spray them to keep down weeds and keep current flowing along the electric fence and only being able to hedgecut ditches when ground isn't able to carry machinery, it's one hell of a PITA.

When I was in REPS one condition was to cut all the hedges, which were fairly tidy beforehand and not growing into the field. Thanks to that I now have fine crops of fern growing out from the ditches :mad:

Sam Kade

st1979 wrote: »

Bit unfair if you got lots of small awkward fields and next door levelled every ditch in the place. You are at a disadvantage forever more. Harder to design paddock system and higher cost of hedge cutting forever more. 2 farms adjoining me have no hedges at all apart from boundary.
What happens if you go lease a farm and previous farmer took ditch out since 2011 that went unnoticed will the new farmer have to replace the ditch

What about if you want to put a central roadway on a farm and there is a ditch in the way? Very hard to manage a dairy farm without a central roadway.

DaDerv

I'm not a dairy farmers but it's for that reason I wanted to remove the ditch. Trying to bring 40-50 head of stock through fields alone is near impossible without a central road which is what I was after. Looks like I'll be shaking a bag and walking ahead of them for another while so.

Seems a bit bizarre all these permutations that we've to comply to. Seem to be making any actual farm improvements near impossible. To be honest I never even considered it to be an issue until the auld fella asked did I need planning permission.

Thanks for the input everyone! Lucky I asked ow or I could have been scalded down the line.

Sam Kade

DaDerv wrote: »

I'm not a dairy farmers but it's for that reason I wanted to remove the ditch. Trying to bring 40-50 head of stock through fields alone is near impossible without a central road which is what I was after. Looks like I'll be shaking a bag and walking ahead of them for another while so.

Seems a bit bizarre all these permutations that we've to comply to. Seem to be making any actual farm improvements near impossible. To be honest I never even considered it to be an issue until the auld fella asked did I need planning permission.

Thanks for the input everyone! Lucky I asked ow or I could have been scalded down the line.

It would be still no harm to ring the department and see what they have to say about it, maybe you could level the ditch lay the roadway and plant a hedge one side of it.