Being surrounded by fields, many  developments in Standish will involve hedges. The law on protecting hedges simply allows regulations within certain limits to be set. It is the regulations therefore that hold much of the detail. 

With the Beechfield application, the hedge in front of the bowling green could not be protected under the current law despite being very old, just because it is now not a field boundary. The government is reviewing the regulations and law because they acknowledge that it does not cover many locally important hedges. The Beechfield hedge would be protected under the new government proposals.

A reasonably, plain english, guide can be found by clicking here. ( at the bottom half of that page.)

The full text of the regulations can be found by clicking here.

Sometimes hedges get in the news for all the wrong reasons when they are out of proportion with local housing. Click Here