Uncut hedges remain a concern in Tallow

Fears regarding the safety of a stretch of road between Kilwatermoy Church and Moorehill Cross in Tallow, due to uncut hedges, were again highlighted this week.

Raising the matter at a meeting of the Dungarvan Lismore District Council, Cllr John Pratt sought an update on hedge cutting in the area, highlighting that hedge cutting can only be carried out until the end of February.

Ongoing work in relation to hedge cutting was noted by Senior Engineer with Waterford City and County Council Gabriel Hynes, who stated that discussions with the landowner regarding the stretch between Kilwatermoy Church and Moorehill Cross had taken place.

“We have issued notices and my understanding is the landowners will be engaging with a local contractor and the necessary works will be carried out,” Mr Hynes said.

He added that there are 6-8 weeks remaining to complete hedge cutting and that ‘significant cooperation’ had been received from landowners.

“Where we have non-compliance with notices, we will be following up those through the normal legal channels,” Mr Hynes added.

‘SICK’ OF RAISING THE ISSUE

Weighing in on the issue, Cllr James Tobin said that the council cannot wait six weeks to resolve the issue, pressing a matter of urgency.

“The council must have spent somewhere between thirty and fifty thousand fixing a drain that we needn’t have fixed if the person that owned the hedge cut it. Now that drain, after all the fixing, it’s going again. If it goes again, somebody will have to go in there and that will be very expensive,” Cllr Tobin said.

He went on to call on the council to take matters into their own hands and cut the ditch, which he claimed was approximately 150 yards long.

“Going down to Mass every Sunday night, people are going to slip into the drain. I am sick of raising this. There must be a way out of it and I think it has to be done,” Cllr Tobin said.

POLICY

Senior Engineer Gabriel Hynes reiterated that a notice had been sent to the landowner and that it would be followed up.

“Under the Roads Act and as is happening throughout the county, hedge cutting is the responsibility of the landowner. We have a policy put in by the SPC which is to issue the notices and follow the notices up by going to the courts, where necessary,” Mr Hynes said.

At a meeting of the Dungarvan Lismore District Council in October 2021, the same stretch of road was described as ‘lethal’, due to uncut, overgrown hedges.