Hedges (again)

The parish council delivered their occasional newsletter today. In a section about the allotments they announced:

The bordering hedges are due to be upgraded and rabbit-proof fencing will soon be installed, possibly November this year.

I have just written to the Trees & Landscape Team in the East Riding of Yorkshire council to ask if the parish council has spoken to them about their plans.

It would have been good to have been notified as a plot holder rather than noticing it in a general newsletter.

I would like the hedge improved with more native species grown to fill the gaps in the hawthorn. Installing a rabbit-proof fence seems ambitious. Will a fence really keep out rabbits when the two entrances are open? How much of the site will be fenced? It also seems unlikely to be able to be done without first removing the existing hedges or encroaching on the allotment plots that the hedges border.

Last time there were plans to pull up the hedge, the Trees and Landscape Team stopped it happening because the parish council had not applied for permission under the 1997 Hedgerows regulations. Let's see what happens this time. If the parish council insists on wasting this money I doubt I can stop them, but I can remind people at the next election what went on.