At the parish Council meeting on Thursday 4th June the new Chair, Jackie Pyne, read out a statement concerning the recent drastic hedge cutting. The full version will be published in the council minutes in due course, but the gist of it is this:
In March the parish council warned the highways authority (Somerset County Council) that certain hedges would need cutting in Lower Road, near the school, as they were becoming a safety hazard. The Council said they would write to the landowner, Philip Colebatch. That was the last they heard of it until the recent controversy blew up.
The County Council visited, made an assessment and notified the landowner of the work needed to be done, supplying a plan and precise locations near the school, and warning about the birdlife. He was given a month to carry out the work. This was in April, so the work had to be done by the end of May.
Mr Colebatch ordered work to be carried out, not just in Lower Road, but also Batchpool Lane and Marsh Lane, with the result that everyone can see.
The Parish Council have informed the police wildlife crime unit that a potential offence against the Wildlife Acts had been committed and asked them to investigate. Two other Horsington residents, acting independently, have also contacted the police.
Mrs Pyne emphasised that at no time had the parish Council requested Mr Colebatch to cut any hedges.
A statement by Mrs Colebatch was read out. In summary, it claimed that they did not wish to cut the hedges at this time, as they had a three-year cycle of hedge maintenance and management in place, and the hedge was due to be cut in September. However, they felt obliged to follow the instructions of the highways authority. They included Batchpool Lane on safety grounds, and Marsh Lane following several complaints.
The statement also claimed that the hedge had been inspected before trimming and that no nesting activity had been detected. It did not say by whom, although Mrs Colebatch is on record with a reporter from ITV news that the inspection was carried out by an employee.
We leave readers to draw their own conclusions as to the likelihood of nesting not taking place in a hedgerow in May and whether the severe cutting was justified on safety grounds, and will not comment further until the results of the wildlife crimes unit investigation is known.