It’s just a landscape architect mapping rural views as part of Wingecarribee Shire Council’s latest attempt to stop the Southern Highlands from disappearing behind a maze of high hedges.

Council fears that high hedges in rural areas are destroying the area’s character by blocking rural landscapes from public view.

Since a previous attempt to restrict high hedges through its draft Local Environmental Plan (LEP) was stymied by the State Government, council has met with Department of Planning staff to build a case to regulate hedges.

Council has received legal advice that it could include a clause in its shire-wide LEP requiring development consent for the planting of new privacy hedge screens in order to protect views from public land.

The provision would limit the unbroken length of any hedge to 50 metres along any public road and require that it be separated from any other hedge by at least 50 metres.

Cr Phil Yeo said controlling high hedges and protecting rural views was very important for Wingecarribee Shire.

For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Wednesday, July 2

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