THE definition of what constitutes a 'hedge' is at the heart of a thorny problem in north Herefordshire.

A farmer followed the proper procedure in applying for planning permission to grub up two old hedges and unwittingly unleashed a storm among experts.

Herefordshire Council conservation officers came under fire after they raised no objection to removal of the landscape features at Kinnersley.

They were accused by independent ecologist David Lovelace of signing the 'death warrant' of hedgerows that date back more than 400 years and form a treasured fragment of 'old countryside.'

Together with the trees along a disused railway track on one side and a wood on another side, the two hedges, at Oldcastle, Kinnersley, enclose a small unimproved pasture. But one hedge, 'B', is now no longer a hedge say officials. It is 'a line of trees.'

It is therefore not protected under the 1997 Hedgerow Regulations.

Recognition

There is official recognition that the removal of this field boundary would result in the destruction of another very valuable hedge, 'A', the other hedge earmarked in the grubbing up application.

Planning services landscape assistant Juliet Wheatley explained official thinking in a letter to Kinnersley Group Parish Council. 'Hedgerow A' was covered by protective legislation but was doomed, she explained.

"It does qualify as being important in terms of archaeological value because it forms an integral part of a pre-Parliamentary Enclosure field system. The hedgerow is shown on the Tithe Map 'Kinnersley' (1839)," said Miss Wheatley.

The 1997 protection rules state important hedges must always be saved unless there were "exceptional circumstances" for removal.

However, in the Kinnersley case the "integrity of the field system" would be destroyed if 'B', the unprotected hedge, was removed. That would leave Hedge 'A' isolated.

"We do not think it would be reasonable to require the retention of an isolated stretch of hedgerow. Therefore we have granted consent for the removal of this hedgerow," the parish council was told.

David Lovelace, who lives in the Kinnersley group parish at Norton Canon and advised parish councillors on the issue, accused county officials of a "neglect of duty." He claimed they had set "a dangerous precedent" which could leave other parts of the Herefordshire countryside vulnerable.

The county council was failing to apply the 1997 Hedgerow Regulations correctly, claimed Mr Lovelace, an adviser to the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

The council was wrong to say that one hedge was 'a line of trees.' It was overgrown and straggly but was still a hedge.

"These hedges appear on the Tithe Map. They link to broad-leaved woodland to form a continuous boundary enclosing a field of unimproved pasture, which has not been ploughed in living memory," said Mr Lovelace.

"It is a fragment of 'ancient countryside' which juts into an arable prairie. If the hedges are removed this is the end of it.

"The council has failed in its role to protect the landscape - it has signed a death warrant."

Kinnersley group parish council chairman Lt. Col (Retd) Ron Saville said in his personal view the hedges should be saved.

Herefordshire Council chief conservation officer Bill Bloxsome said he believed his staff had interpreted regulations in accordance with government guidance and recent case law.

"If the parish council wish us to explain in further detail we would be happy to do so," he added.