Hedgerows and hedges

Please have a look at our high hedges webpage to see if you can raise the issue with us.

The Hedgerows Regulations (1997) protect hedgerows, especially in the countryside. You could get a fine up to £5,000 if you break the rules for removing them. In serious cases you could get an unlimited fine for removing hedgerows in cases referred to the Crown Court.

For more information go to the government website Countryside hedgerows: protection and management.

More detailed information can also be found at Hedgerows, retention and replacement notices: the appeal procedures.

If you need to inform the council of a hedgerow removal notice, this can be submitted via the Planning Portal.

To commission an ecologist search at Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. To undertake a historic search, go to Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record (CHER).

You can report a removed hedgerow via our planning enforcement page.

Garden hedgerows vary in style from well maintained boundaries to outgrown rows of trees.

You will need to notify us if you are removing an unmaintained hedge in the conservation area if the stems are greater than 75 millimetres diameter at 1.5 meters above ground level (measured over the bark). Notifications can be submitted to us via the Planning Portal.

You do not need permission to remove or trim a well maintained residential garden hedgerow either in the conservation area or out of the conservation area.

Beware! If you are replacing your hedge for a fence or wall, you may need planning permission. Please seek the advice of a planning duty officer.

Occasionally an outgrown hedgerow may be subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO). Please go to our TPO page.

Hedgerows are not eligible for a TPO. Trees within a hedgerow can be protected with a TPO if eligible. Please see our Tree Preservation Orders webpage.

To find an accredited hedgelayer, please use the search function on the National Hedgelaying Society website.

For free guides on identifying common hedgerow plants, along with lots of other wildlife try OPAL.

For more information on hedgerow management try The English Hedgerow Trust or Hedgelink.

For more information on fruitful hedgerows, foraging and the hedgerow harvest try The Tree Council.

If you witness a wildlife crime taking place, call 999.

For a non-emergency, call 101. If you would like to give information regarding a crime anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.