Husband wanting to take a hedge down in April - tried telling him this could get him into trouble

[Biosblbay]

We need an electric car charger which is being installed tomorrow and for us to use our front garden as a drive we need to remove our fence and a hedge which sort of has grown all around the fence (ivy so it has become very invasive). We have confirmed this with the council as we are a conservation area but as we aren’t making changes this has been agreed.

I have tried telling my husband that due to the time of year and all of the birds making nests ready for their babies (bear in mind we live in a small village which is surrounded by countryside and I actually feed the birds in the front garden with bird feeder) that it is actually illegal and we shouldn’t be taking the hedge down this time of year and should have been done earlier or we really need to wait until August.

I have read that you can get into a lot of trouble, and to be honest I don’t really want him to do it because of the birds.

Does anyone know if this is illegal under any circumstance or due to the fact my husband needs a car charger that we have no choice that it would be allowed?

I have provided a photo to show the fence and hedge that will need to be removed

You can't do any hedging till after may due to the nesting season

Hmmm... Maybe check with your local council?

https://protectthewild.org.uk/campaign/illegal-to-cut-a-hedge-in-spring-yes-and-no/

He can’t.

I would seriously judge anyone who removed a hedge during nesting season. Don't be one of those people.

Have you checked the hedge for any actual nests?

It's not hedge cutting or removal that could be illegal it's disturbing nesting birds. So first you need to identify if there actually are any birds nesting in the hedge, birds going in and out regularly is a pretty good sign if it's too dense to see a nest. If there's no actively nesting birds then it's fine, if there are then he can't.

The law is the deliberate destruction of a nest. There was an article on this 3 days ago on the BBC. Have you looked to see if there are any birds nesting in the hedge? Just because you feed them doesn't mean they are nesting there. I have 4 nests in my garden and they are all up higher than 7ft in densely packed branches to stop the cats being able to get in there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2g85xr94go

"Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird whilst it is in use or being built and it is also an offence to intentionally take or destroy the egg of any wild bird.

And while there are no dates legally stated when trees or hedges cannot be cut, the risk of committing offences under the 1981 Act is increased between March 1 and 31 August when birds nest.

If you do decide you want to chop down a tree or hedge during this period then a qualified ecologist must check the habitat for nests beforehand and every 48 hours once they have begun."

I don't think a homeowner who is having works done that necessitates the cutting of a hedge or tree is calling on a qualified ecologist before they start work. Some things cannot be delayed until September.

It's rather a low hedge for nests IMO. Have a good look inside it and watch for a while to see if any birds come and go .... if not then yes remove it.

How wide is the car? Could he remove the gate and up to the post to the left of it? Leaving the post in place to support the rest of the hedge and potentially attach a wider gate in future.

That's a fairly small section that should be easier to check for nests as it's thinner there.

Not the point of your OP but do you have a dropped kerb?

Are you just taking off the front?
You check for nests, remove the small part in front and peave the sides. I agree with pp these are quite low for nests

I would report a neighbour who did such an unnecessary and illegal act

This. If removing the hedge doesn't disturb any wild birds then it's fine.

It would only be illegal if it disturbed nesting birds. "Unnecessary" is not in the relevant legislation.

For domestic gardens it's illegal to disturb nesting birds. So you can cut or remove hedges in the nesting season if you are certain there are no active nests. Where it is illegal is when hedges are surrounding fields, allotments etc. This law was introduced in 2024 or possibly 2025.

@Fast800goingforit@Sunseed@ConflictofInterest I haven’t actually checked for nests but it’s something that can easily be done as it’s not majorly dense. Is this something we can check ourselves? And if a neighbour was to complain, how can we prove we have checked it?
Personally I would rather wait just to be on the safe side but the charging situation is a nightmare for him as he commutes and drives so much for work and drives far, he spends about 4-6 hours a day driving and an electric car was mandatory for his next company car. I don’t really want a car at the front but it is what it is

People get the law confused. You can’t go swimming a chain saw, but you’re allowed to remove what you can check for nests. This low hedge is easy to check and if empty you can remove at any time of year.

@grumpygrape I hadn’t even thought about this! It’s our first proper house together so we are learning so much being home owners, we lived in a flat before so totally different. This is something I will get my husband to look into. Thank you for this otherwise we could have got in so much more trouble.

@RedLightYellowLight thank you for this. Just wanted to double check. As I mentioned just above recently that it’s our first house and we are learning so much still. Is this something we can check ourselves? And what if a neighbour was to complain, how do we prove that we checked prior?

A have a whinging neighbour who nabs my gardener every spring and nags at him to trim the hedge. I have told him not to touch the hedge until after september. I dont know that there are actually any birds nesting in it but I just like pizzing on whinging neighbours. The hedge runs along one edge of a little public parking bay and she says she cant get her pushchair around there. The gardener just nods and says well its not his decision and he can only trim when I direct him to do so. I would probably tell her to park somewhere else as I am not interested in her bloody pushchair. However getting to speak to me is like applying for an audience with the Pope.

Nesting season is March to September. Thats the whole growing season. Of course hedge removal and trimming is not illegal.

All you need to do is check the hedge. It’s pretty easy to do. It’s unlikely you have a nest in one that height next to a road

Your neighbour would have to prove there were birds nesting in it immediately prior to you cutting it down.

From your picture it doesn’t look like you do have a dropped kerb. In that case you cannot use your front garden to park on as you would have to drive over the pavement to access it and this is not permitted.

You would need to apply to the council for permission to install a dropped kerb and then pay for the installation. In total this would be couple of thousand pounds or so.

Go ahead and have the electric car charger fitted, but as has already been pointed out, do you have a dropped kerb? If not, then you need to have one installed. The council can advise on that one. Maybe since your DH's employer is insisting that an electric car is mandatory for his next company vehicle, you will be able to persuade them to pay for the cost of the dropped kerb.

@SeaDragon17 we don’t have a footpath outside the front garden, it goes straight onto the main road, would this still be allowed? I’ve provided a photo from google maps (this was before the fence was put up)