Our view

Three things are needed to protect our hedgerows: stronger regulation, more funding and more local control.

Stronger regulation
The Government is planning to revise its Hedgerow Regulations. We argue the regulations need to be strengthened to protect:

• locally distinctive hedgerows
• other important rare or distinctive landscape features, such as dry stone walls and hedge banks

More funding
There needs to be an increasing share of agricultural funding devoted to helping farmers and land managers retain and manage these valuable landscape features. Existing 'agri-environment' schemes, which provide government funding to help farmers practice environmentally friendly farming methods, need to be expanded and made more responsive to local landscape character.

A more local approach
In the long term, a planning-based approach using landscape character assessments should be used to strengthen the revised hedgerow regulations. Such character assessments help people describe what makes a place distinctive; they can then use this information to protect or enhance landscape character. The use of these assessment would give more flexibility to the hedgerow protection process, allow local people a greater voice in protecting hedgerows and result in more being protected.

Landscape character assessments have been developed by the Countryside Agency and have been incorporated into Government guidance on planning, nature conservation, farming, rural economic development and urban design. However, their use in these processes is not a legal requirement. Their position needs to be made stronger to ensure more certain protection for hedgerows.