A Jersey environmental group wants to make it illegal to cut hedges back too far during the pruning season.
The Branchage Law has been in place since 1914 and ensures that any vegetation that overhangs roads and footpaths is cut back.
Jersey in Transition wants to change the law so that at least 10cm of growth is left on hedges to protect important habitats.
The Government was contacted for comment.
What is branchage?
Branchage means ‘the branch’ in Jersey’s traditional language, Jèrriais, and the branchage season takes place between July and September.
Under the 113-year-old law, parish constables ensure that the public highway is free from overgrowth and therefore safe for users.
There must be a clearance of 12ft (3.6m) over main roads and byways, and 8ft (2.4m) over footpaths.
Twice a year, highway inspectors are brought in to ensure that roads and footpaths are “as safe as practicable” – if they are deemed unsafe or unfinished, landowners can be fined or charged for the work to be done.
Jersey in Transition has asked for two additional clauses to be added to the Act.
The first would require that vegetation adjacent to a road “shall not have been cut or destroyed to within 10cm of the ground surface”.
The second proposed change would require that vegetation on the top of any bank “shall be left uncut so long as it does not overhang the road”.
The group said any action taken under the law must be in accordance with the Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2021, “particularly in relation to protected species and invasive non-native species”.
The Wildlife Act ensures the conservation and protection of wild animals, birds and plants, and promotes the island’s biodiversity.
Jersey in Transition proposed a “new measuring stick” to be used by inspectors, “which simply has the last 10cm painted in a contrasting colour”.
“The stick can be pushed into the vegetation to give an instant indication of whether the cut has met the new requirements,” it said.