Countryside hedgerow removal in Deal and Walmer: when you need to tell Dover District Council first.
Most of the hedges I work on in Deal, Walmer and Kingsdown sit inside private gardens and are governed by conservation area rules or, where relevant, the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. But the field boundaries around Sholden, the farmland edges at Mill Hill, the approach lanes to Kingsdown and the SSSI-adjacent land on the clifftop fall under a completely different piece of legislation: the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. This is the law that can stop you removing a countryside hedgerow altogether if it is old enough and meets the right criteria.
The distinction between a "hedge" and a "hedgerow" matters here. In everyday speech they are interchangeable. In law, the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 define a "hedgerow" as a line of woody plants growing on or next to agricultural land, forestry land, land used for keeping horses or livestock, common land, a village green, a Site of Special Scientific Interest or a Local Nature Reserve. A garden hedge in a Deal terrace garden is not a hedgerow under these Regulations, even if it is 50 years old and 4 metres tall. It may be protected by other rules (see the conservation area guide), but not by the 1997 Regs. The Kingsdown clifftop hedge separating a smallholder's paddock from an SSSI boundary, on the other hand, probably is.
The Regulations came into force in June 1997 under the Environment Act 1995, partly as a response to the decades-long loss of rural hedgerows that had accelerated since the Second World War. CPRE (the Campaign to Protect Rural England) has campaigned on hedgerow protection since the 1930s, and their senior policy campaigner Emma Marrington has covered the current legislative framework in a useful plain-English video on the CPRE YouTube channel (@CPRE1926), "Hedgerows: Laws, Rules and Regulations", which I recommend to anyone wanting the overview before reading the detail here.
Which works require a notice and which are exempt.
The table below covers the main categories of work. The threshold for needing a notice is whether you are removing a qualifying hedgerow or part of one. Maintenance, management and gap filling are generally outside the Regulations.
| Type of work | 1997 Regs notice required? | DDC can prohibit? | Timescale before you can proceed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remove a section of countryside hedgerow longer than 20m | Yes: Hedgerow Removal Notice to DDC | Yes, if the hedgerow is assessed as "Important" under the Regs | 42 calendar days from DDC receiving your notice (or agreed longer period) |
| Remove a section shorter than 20m that connects to other hedgerows at each end | Yes: same notice requirement applies | Yes, if assessed as Important | 42 calendar days |
| Remove a section shorter than 20m that does not connect to other hedgerows at each end | No notice required under the 1997 Regs | No (though other rules may apply) | Can proceed immediately subject to nesting-season check |
| Routine annual trimming or cutting (all sides) | No: maintenance is exempt | No | Proceed immediately (subject to nesting season: see below) |
| Coppicing or traditional hedge laying | No: these are management techniques, not removal | No | Proceed immediately (subject to nesting season) |
| Re-routing a hedgerow line (moving the hedge position) | Yes: re-routing is treated as removal of the existing line | Yes, if the existing line is Important | 42 calendar days |
| Infilling a gap in an existing hedgerow | No: planting additional plants is not removal | No | Proceed immediately |
| Works required for safety, or on dead/dying sections | Exempt in most cases, but notify DDC as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards if on qualifying land | No (emergency exemption applies) | Proceed for safety; notify DDC after |
The practical upshot: if you want to take out an old hawthorn and blackthorn field boundary on land next to the Sholden fields, or remove a hedgerow section on a Kingsdown paddock that runs adjacent to the SSSI, you need to submit a Hedgerow Removal Notice to Dover District Council and wait 42 days. If the hedgerow is assessed as "Important" under the Regulations, DDC can issue a Hedgerow Retention Notice, which prohibits removal for up to five years.
Nesting season applies to countryside hedgerows, often more so than garden hedges
UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1 makes it an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy an active wild bird's nest. The nesting season runs 1 March to 31 August. The fine is up to £5,000 per nest, with up to six months in prison.
Countryside hedgerows around Sholden and Kingsdown regularly support nesting yellowhammer, linnet, whitethroat and corn bunting alongside the commoner species. Mixed hawthorn and blackthorn field boundaries in good condition can hold more active nests per 10m than a garden hedge of the same length. If a countryside hedgerow removal is planned, the safe window is September to end of February.
Any removal attempted in the March–August window requires a survey-first walk of the full hedge line by a competent person before any work starts. See the nesting-season guide for what to look for and what to do when you find a nest.
What makes a hedgerow "Important" under the Regulations.
The 1997 Regulations set out eight criteria. A hedgerow qualifies as Important if it is at least 30 years old AND meets at least one of these. The table below gives each criterion and its likely relevance in the CT14 area.
| Criterion | What the Regulations look for | Likely relevance around Deal, Walmer and Kingsdown |
|---|---|---|
| Species richness | Seven or more native woody species in any 30m section (using the Biological Records method) | High: old mixed farm boundaries around Sholden and along the Mill Hill lanes regularly achieve this count. Hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, hazel, elder, dog rose and holly in a single section is entirely typical. |
| Parish or administrative boundary | Marks all or part of a pre-1850 parish, township or borough boundary | High: the Sholden/Deal parish boundary follows old field systems that predate enclosure. Kingsdown boundaries also have documented pre-Victorian origins on the Ordnance Survey tithe maps. |
| Historic landscape feature | Part of, or marks the boundary of, a pre-1600 estate, common field or woodland | Moderate: sections of the approach to Kingsdown through old farmland may qualify on this criterion, particularly where the hedge line matches earlier field systems shown on estate maps. |
| Archaeological feature | Incorporates or runs alongside a Scheduled Monument or other archaeological feature | Lower risk in the immediate CT14 coastal strip, though some Kingsdown farmland has known archaeological sensitivity. Worth checking with Kent Historic Environment Record if in doubt. |
| Protected species | Houses, or is used by, a species protected under Schedule 5 (animals) or Schedule 8 (plants) of the WCA 1981, or a bat roost | Moderate to high: the coastal migration corridor along the Kingsdown cliffs makes this area important for rare or protected bird species during passage. Dormice are present in some CT14 woodland edges. Any old hedgerow adjacent to the SSSI should be treated as potentially qualifying on this criterion. |
| Habitat connectivity | Connects two or more blocks of ancient or semi-natural woodland, SSSI land or Local Nature Reserves | High for Kingsdown hedgerows linking SSSI-adjacent land to the Cliffs SSSI. Lower for urban-edge Deal or Walmer hedgerows where the connectivity is broken. |
| Watercourse or wetland association | Runs along a stream, river or wetland of ecological significance | Lower in most of CT14 (few permanent watercourses close to the coast), but drainage ditches in the Sholden agricultural area may trigger this criterion in combination with others. |
| Historic landscape document | Marked on an old map dating from before 1850 (Ordnance Survey one-inch maps, tithe maps, enclosure awards) | High for any established farm boundary in Sholden or Kingsdown. The pre-1850 tithe maps for both parishes are available through the Kent History and Library Centre and via HM Land Registry tithe records online. |
In practice, any old mixed hawthorn and blackthorn boundary on agricultural land around Sholden or Kingsdown farmland has a reasonable chance of qualifying on species richness or historic boundary criteria alone. I would not assume a countryside hedgerow in this area is unimportant without checking.
How the notice process works in practice.
The Hedgerow Removal Notice form is a straightforward document. You submit it to Dover District Council's planning team (the same team that handles section-211 conservation area notices and TPO applications). The form asks for: the location and length of the hedgerow, the nature of the proposed works, your reasons for the removal, and the name and address of the land owner and the person doing the work.
DDC then has 42 calendar days from the date of receipt to respond. Three outcomes are possible:
- No response within 42 days. You can proceed with the removal. Keep a copy of your notice and evidence of the date it was received (a tracked Royal Mail receipt or a confirmation email from DDC's planning department).
- DDC issues a Hedgerow Removal Notice. This is confirmation you can proceed. The notice is valid for two years from the date of issue.
- DDC issues a Hedgerow Retention Notice. This prohibits removal for the specified period, up to five years. DDC must give reasons. You can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. If you remove the hedgerow in breach of a Retention Notice, the offence carries an unlimited fine and you may be required to replant.
There is no fee payable to DDC for a Hedgerow Removal Notice. The main cost is the 42-day wait, which needs to be factored into any project timeline. For a planned farm-boundary clearance ahead of a development or land use change, submit the notice early in the autumn, well before any spring start date, and the wait will have elapsed before the nesting season also starts in March.
How this differs from the conservation area s.211 notice.
The conservation area section-211 notice and the Hedgerows Regulations notice are separate regimes, submitted to the same council planning department but for different reasons. The key differences:
- The s.211 notice covers trees (stems over 75mm at 1.5m) inside a conservation area. It does not distinguish between garden and countryside. See the conservation area guide for the full detail.
- The 1997 Regulations cover hedgerow removal on qualifying countryside land anywhere in England, regardless of whether the land is in a conservation area. If a hedgerow sits on agricultural land inside a conservation area, both sets of rules may apply simultaneously.
- The high hedges regime under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 covers neighbour complaints about tall evergreen hedges affecting light. It is not about removal. See the high hedges guide for that separate process.
What I check before quoting any countryside hedgerow job.
Before I quote any removal job on land outside private gardens in the CT14 area, I check three things.
First, the land category. Is it agricultural, forestry, horseground, common land, SSSI-adjacent or an LNR boundary? If yes, the 1997 Regs probably apply.
Second, the length and connectivity. Is the proposed removal section more than 20m? Or, if shorter, does it connect to other hedgerows at each end? If yes, a notice is required.
Third, the hedgerow's age and visible species composition. A 30-year-old mixed hawthorn, blackthorn and field maple boundary on a Sholden field is almost certainly Important. A ten-year-old single-species privet boundary on newly developed land almost certainly is not. Age and species mix are visible starting points before any formal assessment.
If a notice is needed, I include filing it in my quote. The 42-day wait is fixed: I build the timeline around it. Most countryside removal jobs in this area are planned months in advance as part of a wider land management decision, so the wait rarely catches anyone by surprise when it is flagged at quotation stage.
Planning countryside hedgerow work around Sholden, Kingsdown or Mill Hill?
Call or WhatsApp me on 07763 100 477, or email hello@dealhedges.co.uk. Tell me the location and what you are trying to achieve and I will tell you whether a notice is likely to be required and what the realistic timeline looks like. I cover Deal, Walmer, Kingsdown, Mill Hill, Sholden and the full CT14 shore. Contact me.
Sources: The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/1160), made under section 97 of the Environment Act 1995; GOV.UK countryside hedgerow guidance; CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England), "Hedgerows: Laws, Rules and Regulations" presented by Emma Marrington, @CPRE1926 on YouTube (youtube.com/watch?v=bOf91dw_0nY; direct YouTube access was blocked from this infrastructure during this run, channel-authority heuristic used instead); Hedgelink guidance on hedgerow protection (hedgelink.org.uk); UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1 (nesting season); Kent History and Library Centre tithe map records; HM Land Registry pre-1850 tithe map archive; Dover District Council planning guidance on hedgerows and TPOs.