pwa wrote:9494arnold wrote:Hedge trimmings are Litter. Pure and simple.
A nuisance (in the wrong place) certainly. Litter? No. Litter is man made stuff such cans and wrappers, not bits of trees.
Waddabout leaf litter?
pwa wrote:9494arnold wrote:Hedge trimmings are Litter. Pure and simple.
A nuisance (in the wrong place) certainly. Litter? No. Litter is man made stuff such cans and wrappers, not bits of trees.
reohn2 wrote:pwa wrote:9494arnold wrote:Hedge trimmings are Litter. Pure and simple.
A nuisance (in the wrong place) certainly. Litter? No. Litter is man made stuff such cans and wrappers, not bits of trees.
Waddabout leaf litter?
In an urban area maybe, or if collected and fly tipped, but otherwise generally not. No more so than leaves.9494arnold wrote:Hedge trimmings are Litter. Pure and simple.
xerxes wrote:Another downside to hedge cutting in Autumn is the effect on birds. Hedgerows contain lots of berries (including the cyclists' bete noire hawthorn) which are essential food for many species during the winter months.
Having said that, I'm not sure what would be the best time of year for hedge cutting. In spring birds will be nesting. Maybe January/February when most of the berries will have been eaten?
xerxes wrote:Another downside to hedge cutting in Autumn is the effect on birds. Hedgerows contain lots of berries (including the cyclists' bete noire hawthorn) which are essential food for many species during the winter months.
Having said that, I'm not sure what would be the best time of year for hedge cutting. In spring birds will be nesting. Maybe January/February when most of the berries will have been eaten?
xerxes wrote:Another downside to hedge cutting in Autumn is the effect on birds. Hedgerows contain lots of berries (including the cyclists' bete noire hawthorn) which are essential food for many species during the winter months.
Having said that, I'm not sure what would be the best time of year for hedge cutting. In spring birds will be nesting. Maybe January/February when most of the berries will have been eaten?
9494arnold wrote:For England and Wales, dropping litter is a criminal offence under Section 87(1) of the EPA 1990, such that:
'A person is guilty of an offence if he throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter in any place to which this section applies and leaves it'.
The provision continues by explaining that it is irrelevant whether the litter is deposited on land or in water, whether on public property or private property (i.e. regardless of ownership), provided that the place is open to the air (on at least one side) and the public has access to it, even if only with payment.
The Explanatory Notes to the 2005 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act further explain that the offence of dropping litter extends beyond land, to dropping litter into bodies of water, such as rivers or lakes, and includes throwing litter from a road or public place onto adjacent private land.
The area of a local authority in a coastal area extends down to the low-water mark under Section 72 of the 1972 Local Government Act. Therefore, it is also an offence to drop litter anywhere above the low water mark, which makes it an offence to drop litter on beaches.
It can be observed that under Section 87(4A) of the EPA 1990, no offence is committed where the litter is: (a) authorised by law or (b) done by or with the consent of the owner, occupier or other person having control of the place where it is deposited.
The criminal offence of littering and the wording used in the EPA 1990 originated from the 1958 Litter Act. The offence as originally envisaged only applied to places where the public had the right of access without payment. Today, this element of the offence has changed, and it is now an offence to litter even in places where the public can enter only on payment.
What still remains a point of confusion, however, is the requirement that the place be 'open to the air'. This element is not a problem for completely open spaces such as roads, parks and village greens, but can be tricky where the space is covered, such as with buildings. For example, due to the need for the building to be open on at least one side, 'open spaces' include bus shelters but not old-style telephone boxes which are covered and only have a door. DEFRA's guidance states, 'it is intended that this (i.e. open to the air) should apply to any covered place with a significant, permanent opening on at least one side, such as a bus shelter, railway platform or garage forecourt that remains open to the air at all times'.
To clarify the situation further, DEFRA have stated that the offence applies on:
Public open spaces: village greens, gardens, play areas, football pitches, etc;
Private land;
Highways: roads, pavements, footways, bridleways, ginnels, etc;
All places that are open to the air on at least one side, such as a railway station, bus shelter, etc. to which the public have access
School grounds
At the coast, down to the low water mark
Ponds, lakes reservoirs and rivers.
However, it was acknowledged during Parliamentary debates about the EPA 1990 that there may be practical difficulties with the legislative definition:
Like I said : Litter.
9494arnold wrote:From the DEFRA Code Of Practice on Litter:
5.5 Detritus, which comprises small,broken down particles of synthetic and natural materials, arrive at the site
through the same displacement effects associated with mechanical, human,animal and natural actions, most of which
also determine the distribution of litter.Detritus includes dust, mud, soil, grit,gravel, stones, rotted leaf and vegetable
residues, and fragments of twigs, glass,plastic and other finely divided materials.Leaf and blossom falls are to be regarded
as detritus once they have substantially lost their structure and have become mushy or fragmented. A significant and
avoidable source of detritus is uncollected grass cuttings and weed growth from seeds germinating in moist detritus.
5.6 Large accumulations of detritus, built up over months and years, can contribute to the uncared for impression an area
exudes. Detritus on metalled highways must be removed as a requirement of these. S89 duty to keep highways clean and it
is also recommended that detritus should be removed alongside litter and refuse by uty bodies from all other hard surfaces
The precise wording can be seen here Environmental Protection Act 1990 S89(1)
EPA Section 89 (1) imposes a duty on certain bodies including educational institutions, local authorities and Highways England
… to ensure that the land under their control is, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse.