If you have received a vegetation letter, get in touch.
All hedge cutting and tree work on the highway should be done safely and by those qualified to work in accordance with the recommendations in Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
When working on the highway the person responsible for the work, or their contractor, must have Public Liability Insurance cover for working on the highway for a value of £5 million.
Vegetation should be cut back to maintain the minimum required clearances for roads and footways:
- 5.5m height clearance for vegetation overhanging roads.
- 2.1m height clearance for vegetation overhanging footpaths.
- 2.5m height clearance for vegetation overhanging cycleways.
Working on hedges
Hedges must be maintained to ensure that the highway remains accessible and safe. Appropriate hedge management can also be of great benefit to Devon’s biodiversity. For more information about managing and protecting the hedgerows on your land see Hedgelink.
Older hedgerows are important features of the landscape and their conservation is vital; this may involve specialist maintenance techniques such as hedge laying. For more information and advice contact The Devon Hedge Group.
Working on trees
Tree Preservation Orders
If you need to carry out work on trees you should talk to your local city or district council before pruning or tree felling as their consent may be needed if the tree has a preservation order or is in a conservation area.
Further guidance
The Forestry Commission can give you advice if you need to fell a large number of trees. You would need to obtain a licence from them if the volume of timber to be felled exceeds five cubic metres. The Arboricultural Association has a directory of qualified tree surgeons who can safely undertake work on trees.
The National Tree Safety Group and the Forestry Commission provide further information about safely managing your trees.
Disturbing wildlife and nesting birds and the law
Landowners are required to plan the maintenance of their vegetation to avoid bird nesting season in the summer months.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects species such as dormice, bats, nesting birds and their eggs. The management of hedgerow regulations 2024 state notable exceptions to hedgerow trimming between 1 March – 31 August.
We only request that landowners take action to make safe the vegetation that we have identified as causing a safety issue. Landowners should plan all other maintenance outside of bird nesting season (1 March – 31 August). As per the management of hedgerow regulations the circumstances that exemptions apply are:
(a) overhangs a highway, road or footpath over which there is a public or private right of way and the overhanging hedgerow obstructs the passage of, or is a danger to users;
(b) obstructs the view of such users or the light from a public lamp; or
(c) is dead, diseased, damaged or insecurely rooted and, because of its condition, the hedgerow, or part of it, is likely to cause danger by falling on to a highway, road or footpath.
Landowners who carry out any maintenance to vegetation that we have not identified as presenting a safety concern will still be liable if they kill or injure a protected species. Landowners carrying out any actions related to the above exemptions, must follow any other rules or legislation in place, for example, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Work near sites of historical significance
If work may affect a scheduled Ancient Monument contact English Heritage for further advice.