Sir, – A Potto farmer has applied to remove a hedgerow (D&S, May 28). Hambleton Council has refused permission both because the hedgerow contains at least six woody species and is therefore “important”

and because it may also contain woodland species and fauna. It is said the hedgerow may be hundreds of years old, because it could be the boundary shown on a map dated 1725.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust says it would not generally recommend removal of a wellestablished hedgerow because they are a vital feature of the landscape, providing nesting and roosting opportunities for birds and habitat for invertebrates.

The farmer has appealed and events will take their course, which is as it should be.

What is happening at Potto should be contrasted with what happened recently at Northallerton. Northallerton Town Council removed an ancient hedgerow in Knotto Bottom Lane. No notice of the removal was given to anybody.

Local residents were told the lane would be tidied, which was far from the truth.

The Knotto Bottom hedgerow was as “important” as the hedgerow at Potto in that it was older and it too contained much wildlife, wildlife which, like the hedgerow, is now gone for ever.

The destruction of the hedgerow was perpetrated by the town council’s amenities committee under its then chairman, Coun Tony Hall.

The law on hedgerows applies to farmers but it does not apply to local authorities. The town council therefore escaped the consequences of its irresponsible vandalism. Does Hambleton Council feel even a little uncomfortable about this?

DAVID SEVERS Trinity Gardens, Northallerton.