Hedgerow removal: the 1997 notice and the metric units
A hedge can be lawfully removable under the 1997 Regulations and still wreck your biodiversity figures. Here is the notice procedure, the exemptions and how hedgerow units are measured.
Hedgerow removal regulations in planning catch the same hedge twice. The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 control removal through a notice procedure run by the local planning authority, with criminal liability if an important hedgerow goes without permission. The statutory biodiversity metric counts the same hedge as hedgerow units, which must show their own 10 per cent gain separately from area habitats. The two regimes measure different things, run on different timetables and are satisfied by different documents.
The practical consequence for a rural owner is that a hedge can be lawfully removable and still wreck the biodiversity figures, or protected under the 1997 Regulations while contributing almost nothing to the metric.
Which hedges the 1997 Regulations cover
The Regulations apply to a hedgerow of 20 metres or more in length, or a shorter hedgerow that meets another hedgerow at each end, growing on or adjoining agricultural land, common land, a village green, a site of special scientific interest, a local nature reserve, or land used for forestry or for the breeding or keeping of horses, ponies or donkeys.
They do not apply to a hedgerow within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse, or marking the boundary of that curtilage. A garden hedge is outside the regime entirely, which is why householders rarely encounter it.
Removal means uprooting or otherwise destroying. Cutting, laying and coppicing as proper management are not removal, though the timing of cutting is separately controlled on agricultural land.
The removal notice and the 42 days
Where the Regulations apply, the owner serves a hedgerow removal notice on the local planning authority describing the hedgerow and the reason for removal, with a plan.
The authority then has 42 days. It may give written consent, it may do nothing, in which case removal may proceed after the period expires, or it may issue a hedgerow retention notice prohibiting removal. A retention notice can only be served where the hedgerow is "important" within the meaning of the Regulations.
Importance has two limbs, and both must be met. The hedgerow must have existed for 30 years or more, and it must satisfy at least one of the criteria in Part II of Schedule 1, which cover archaeological and historical features such as parish boundaries and pre-1850 field patterns, and wildlife and landscape features based on woody species counts and associated features. The detail of those criteria, and how to evidence the 30-year test, is set out in our note on important hedgerows under the 1997 Regulations.
Removing an important hedgerow without consent is an offence, and the authority can serve a notice requiring replacement planting. There is no immunity through the passage of time in the way there is for some planning breaches, so do not assume an old removal has gone away.
Where planning permission overrides the notice
The Regulations contain exemptions, and the one that matters most on a development site is removal carried out in connection with development for which planning permission has been granted or is deemed to be granted. Where the permission's approved plans show the hedge removed, a separate removal notice is not required.
Three cautions follow, and all three catch people.
The exemption covers what the permission authorises. Clearing a longer length than the approved plans show is outside it.
It does nothing about nesting birds. Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects nests in use or being built, and the breeding season runs broadly from March to August. A hedge cleared in May without a check is an offence regardless of planning permission.
And it does nothing about biodiversity net gain. The gain condition operates through the planning permission itself, so removal authorised by the permission is removal you have already had to account for in the metric.
Separately, land used for agriculture is subject to hedgerow management rules enforced by the Rural Payments Agency, covering buffer strips and a cutting ban across the bird breeding season. Those rules sit outside the planning system, and the current requirements should be checked on the government guidance before any works are programmed.
Hedgerow units in the statutory metric
Hedgerows are a separate module in the statutory biodiversity metric, measured in kilometres rather than hectares, and they generate hedgerow units that cannot be traded against area habitat units. A scheme that creates a wildflower meadow and removes 400 metres of hedge does not pass by pointing at the meadow.
The metric distinguishes native hedgerows, species-rich native hedgerows and lines of trees, with the value varying where the hedge sits on a bank or alongside a ditch. Species-rich status depends on the number of woody species recorded, so the survey method drives the baseline value.
New planting is heavily discounted before it counts. The time-to-target-condition multiplier reduces units because a newly planted hedge takes years to reach good condition, and the difficulty multiplier reduces them again. The result is that replacing 100 metres with 100 metres does not produce a net gain. Plan on planting substantially more length than you remove, or on retaining and enhancing what is there.
Enhancement is the underused route. Taking an existing gappy, over-trimmed hedge from poor to good condition generates units without any new planting, and it is usually the lowest-cost way to close a hedgerow deficit. Where the deficit cannot be closed on site, the spatial and registration mechanics are the same as for area habitats, which we cover in hedgerow units and the Hedgerows Regulations overlap.
Condition assessment for hedges
The metric's hedgerow condition assessment is a scored sheet, and the score decides whether the hedge is in good, moderate or poor condition. The criteria look at structure and management rather than species: height and width, the proportion of gaps along the base and through the structure, the presence of undisturbed ground and a perennial vegetation strip, the extent of invasive or nutrient-loving weeds, and signs of damage.
Two implications for an owner.
A hedge that has been flailed to a narrow box for twenty years will usually score poorly, which lowers the baseline you have to replace. That is an advantage on a development site and a loss on a receptor site.
And the assessment is made at a point in time. A hedge surveyed in winter after cutting records differently from the same hedge surveyed in full leaf. The survey should be done in the growing season, and the ecologist should say when it was done and why.
| Feature | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Woody species count per stretch | Whether the hedge is species-rich, which raises distinctiveness |
| Bank or ditch alongside | Raises the habitat type's value |
| Gaps and base thinning | Lowers condition score, so lowers baseline units |
| Perennial vegetation strip and undisturbed ground | Raises condition score |
| Trees within the hedge | Assessed separately, and may need a BS 5837 survey |
Trees in a hedge are a separate question. Where mature trees are present, a Tree Survey to BS 5837:2012 is normally needed alongside the hedgerow work, and a tree preservation order may apply to individual trees whatever the hedge's status.
Replacement planting and management
Replacement is not a plant-and-walk exercise if it has to count in the metric or satisfy a condition.
- Specify a native species mix appropriate to the locality, with the number of species stated, because species-rich status depends on it.
- Plant in a double staggered row at a stated spacing, with a protective strip either side kept out of cultivation.
- Protect from stock and from spray drift, and state how.
- Set out the management regime, including cutting cycle and timing outside the bird breeding season.
- Commit to monitoring and replacement of failures over an agreed period, and secure the whole package for 30 years where it is relied on for biodiversity net gain.
The 30-year commitment is the part owners underestimate. It is secured through a planning obligation or a conservation covenant and binds the land, so it affects future farming decisions on that field margin.
The evidence to submit
A hedgerow case that goes through without queries usually contains the same documents. A plan showing every hedgerow on the site, numbered, with retained, removed and proposed lengths measured. A hedgerow survey recording woody species by stretch, structure, associated features and any archaeological or historical evidence. Completed condition assessment sheets with survey dates. The metric calculation file itself rather than a summary. Photographs from fixed points. And the removal notice correspondence where the 1997 Regulations route has been used.
A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal drafted on PlanScope will set out the structure and flag the site facts it cannot supply, including the hedgerow survey data. Professional review is strongly advised, and the metric itself must be completed by a competent person under the Environment Act 2021 regime, so the draft is a starting point for that ecologist rather than a substitute.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Which hedges need a removal notice?
Hedgerows of 20 metres or more, or shorter ones meeting another hedgerow at each end, on or adjoining agricultural land, common land, a village green, a site of special scientific interest, a local nature reserve, or land used for forestry or for keeping horses, ponies or donkeys. Hedges within or bounding a house curtilage are excluded.
How long does the council have to respond?
Forty-two days from service of the hedgerow removal notice. Within that period the authority can consent, do nothing, or serve a hedgerow retention notice prohibiting removal. If the period passes without a retention notice, removal may proceed in accordance with the notice as served.
What makes a hedgerow important?
Two limbs must both be met. The hedgerow must have existed for 30 years or more, and it must satisfy at least one criterion in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. Those criteria cover archaeological and historical features such as parish boundaries and older field patterns, and wildlife and landscape features based on woody species counts.
Does planning permission mean I can remove the hedge?
Where removal is in connection with development for which permission has been granted, the notice procedure does not apply, but only to the extent the approved plans show. Nesting bird protection under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 still applies, and the removal still has to be accounted for in the biodiversity metric.
Can I offset hedge loss with new habitat elsewhere on site?
Not with area habitats. Hedgerow units are a separate module in the statutory metric and need their own 10 per cent gain, so a new meadow does not answer lost hedge. New planting is also discounted for time to target condition and difficulty, which is why enhancing existing hedges is usually the least costly route to a gain.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.