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

@begonefoulclutter I have provided a photo as above. We don’t have a footpath outside our front garden, it’s straight onto the road, so you know if we would still need permission for a dropped kerb?

Just wait until September, thats what we tend to do.

I agree, the hedge is not the only issue, as I posted previously and you said you would check with the Council.
Becoming a property owner is a big learning curve !
There are times when asking forgiveness after the act is easier than asking permission before the act and then there are times when not asking permission can bite you in the bum at a serious cost of £s

Is there a dropped kerb there now? If not, then you need one, partly because it means that if you don't have one, people will be able to park in the street outside your property, blocking your access to your driveway. If you do have a dropped kerb, then it shows other drivers that they shouldn't park there.

@begonefoulclutter there isn’t really anything. Have you seen the photo I posted. There’s no kerb, it literally is just stones and then road. The fence will be removed but currently there is a fence there.

We contacted the council regarding moving the fence and they said this was fine in the basis it’s under 1m which it is, and we told them about the charger and parking which in part of the response they have said “When the electrical outlet is no longer required as a charging point for electric vehicles, the wall (on which the outlet was mounted) or the land (on which the upstand was placed) must be returned to its previous condition (prior to the installation being carried out) as soon as possible.”
so I think it’s all ok as long as everything goes back to its original state when we move.

but my husband has just spoke to our neighbours and they have already complained. This is the third thing they have moaned about and we have only been here 18 months.

One of my neighbours has an electric car and runs a cable down his path and charges it where it sits in the street, he puts warning signs on the cable.
Signs similar to the caution floor ones.

This. Wait until September. Hedges were cut locally early one Summer, the road was full of tiny baby birds not quite ready to fledge. Managed to get them back into the hedge as it hadn’t been cut completely, but who knows if they survived.

If there isn't a kerb there, as OP says and the photo indicates, it's going to be impossible have a dropped kerb.

It's only illegal on agricultural land. Even then if your garden adjoins agricultural land you can cut the hedge. Just not if there are birds nesting. It's not difficult to check for nests.

I’m really careful with hedge cutting because of this, however I can’t see your hedge? All I can see is a clump of twiggy patchy privet type stuff that surely no bird would choose to nest in😂it looks about waist hight on a footpath and you can see through it! Just check first for nests ( but surely not) then tell him to have at it.

If there's no nests in it then chop it down.