Overgrown verges are public safety issue, says councillor

A local councillor has called on Mayo County Council to lobby the European Union (EU) to change the Habitats Directive that prohibits hedge-cutting between March and September.

Calling for all verges to be cut at junctions along local roads, Cllr Patsy O’Brien said he has never seen as many requests for hedge and verge cutting, citing one case where visibility is so bad between Ballinrobe and Clonbur that a neighbour has to be called on to help direct an elderly woman drive safely out onto the road. 

Speaking at the July meeting of Mayo County Council, Cllr O'Brien suggested that a recent accident on another local road was “fully due to no vision because of verges”, adding: “The birds and bees are being looked after under the European directive on habitats but the human beings can crash into one another and nothing is done on safety.” 

Cllr O’Brien told council management: “I want you to write to all our Oireachtas members and MEPs to lobby the EU to change the law on this directive because it is endangering human beings. Some of those narrow local roads were only built for the horse and cart and with a verge on either side they are no longer even eight-foot but just six-foot wide. 

"We want legislation changed in Europe on this for the safety of our people. This is a very serious issue. We are being jeopardised by red tape.” 

Cllr John O’Hara seconded “this most important motion”, stating that, “overgrown grass along roadsides is deadly dangerous".

"No bird or bee will go that far out, and it is the human beings we need to protect by cutting the verges. Someone is going to be hurt so we need to do this before it’s too late.” 

Cllr Chris Maxwell said he had already drawn attention to the dangerous situation in Louisburgh where overgrowth is so heavy that “drivers can’t even see the stop signs or the speed limit signs that were put there to keep people safe”.

“The Sally bushes have taken over the roads. For people making their way to Roonagh, Google maps is bringing them up side roads and cars are being scratched from briars and overgrowth. Hedge cutters should be out from June 1st.” 

Cllr Maxwell asked that the council adopt a policy in conjunction with landowners to cut back all the verges and trees and said hedge cutting was particularly necessary at the busy junctions leading to the beaches along Louisburgh “to make them safe once and for all”.

Cllr Annie May Reape said the council is "not getting the verges trimmed and it is a safety concern". 

"There are so many side roads exiting onto main roads that need to be cut, as well as all the approach roads into Ballina. We talk about this issue ad nauseum at meetings but this year it all seems to be more overgrown than ever before and people exiting onto regional roads cannot see left or right due to overgrowth.” 

Cllrs Neil Cruise and Deirdre Lawless also expressed concern about overgrown verges, following which council chief executive Kevin Kelly told members: “We have this conversation every year and the only solution as Cllr O’Brien says is a change to the law. Local authorities will do a certain amount of work based on the health and safety exemption that is allowed and then it is about striking a balance between dealing with dangerous junctions and the environmental obligations.” 

In a written response, Director of Services David Mellett said councillors and members of the public are encouraged to bring any junctions where visibility is affected to the attention of their local municipal district office. 

"Mayo County Council will continue to address identified visibility issues at junctions on a prioritised, risk-led basis, ensuring that road safety requirements, environmental obligations and the effective use of available resources are appropriately balanced.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.