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4.9 Deputy G.C.L. Baudains of the Chairman of the Comité des Connétable s regarding procedures used to ensure consistent foliage clearance prior to the branchage:
As a matter of interest, in relation to the last question I thought the law already existed but anyway. Would the Chairman identify what procedures the Comité uses to ensure consistent foliage clearance prior to the branchage?
The Connétable of Trinity (Chairman, Comité des Connétable s):
Each Connétable ensures consistent foliage clearance on the date of the Visite du Branchage in their Parish and this is usually 12 feet over main roads and 8 feet over pavements, but there is no requirement to ensure consistent foliage clearance prior to Visite du Branchage. However, the Loi (1914) sur la Voirie places a duty on the Connétable that at all times to have all impediment branchage cut and/or nuisance, whatever, removed from the public roads. So where the Connétable becomes aware or has been informed of a specific encroachment, the land owner or occupier will be notified and requested to remove it within a specified time. By law, notice of the date of the Visite du Branchage is given in the Jersey Gazette, at least the last week of June and the last week of August, but in addition the dates are publicised through Parish newsletters, magazines, garden centres and contractors.
4.9.1 Deputy G.C.L. Baudains:
Obviously I was referring to pre-branchage clearance and the Chairman referred to the Loi sur la Voirie, can he, with his fellow Constables, aim for some sort of consistency because some roads have had the weeds cleared by machine a couple of months ago, and yet the others today where, to drive a car down, you are touching both sides which is not safe for motorists and it is not very nice for cyclists or pedestrians.
The Connétable of Trinity :
I totally agree with the Deputy but the problem is you also have those of the environmental views say that we are cutting it too early in some cases. It is very tricky for a Connétable . I will say only a couple of weeks ago, certainly in my Parish, we had a fortnight of walking to school. Now a lot of the hedges on the pavements were overgrown, and parents phoned the Parish all saying: "Could you arrange with the landowners to cut them back so it is safer for the children to walk?" So it is one of those things which is very, very hard to police. I think, where possible, we try to hold it back. Obviously, one has to also remember, I think the Deputy ought to remember, these works are done by farmers and they are paid for by the farmers, not by the Island. They have to be very thankful for that because if this was put on to the Island to do the branchage on the set date, it would cost an absolute fortune. I know the season is late and like everything else with the rain we have just recently had, everything is really moving quite fast at the moment, and it is a problem. But usually at this time of the year when farmers do have time, they do start cutting ahead because some of these farmers now grow on massive amounts of area and it is also quite hard to do it within a set time. But there is nothing that we can do about it. It is really down to each individual complaint that we would look at it.