Letter to the Editor – Feb ’26
Dear Editor
Overgrown hedges
I read the piece headed ‘Dept for Transport – Press release 8 January 2026’ in the Kibworth & District Chronicle (January 2026 issue) with mixed feelings.
Concern for those trying to pass on narrowed pavements, and sympathy for those trying to park to leave enough room for vehicles, especially emergency vehicles, to get through.
Parking on pavements is not confined to the older parts of the village, where the housing stock has limited room for garages or off-road parking. A walk around our new estates where most new roads are not particularly wide, reveals that pavement parking is just as prevalent there. Even where there is provision for off road parking!
However, this story has two sides. The other side to it is the obstruction of the pavements by overgrown hedges. These spill beyond property boundaries, and into the pavement. Trees and bushes are allowed to overhang pavements at less than head height, so that they attack pedestrians, dangerously in some cases.
Personal Responsibility
We all have a responsibility to make sure that our hedges, bushes and trees do not extend beyond our property boundary. But there are plenty of examples around the village where pavements are restricted and even dangerous.
I regularly witness folk walking into the road to pass each other; blind or partially sighted people being attacked by low hanging bushes and trees, (sometimes spiky brambles!), and pushchairs and wheelchairs unable to navigate stretches of pavement without forcing other folk into the road. Added to that is the restricted sight line at several junctions, where overgrown hedges prevent an earlier view of oncoming traffic.
Now is the time of year where severe, (if needed), pruning can be carried out so that new growth appears on the cut back stems. Hedges and bushes might look a bit sad for a year or two, but they generally come back and fill in again. They will then be easier to manage on a regular basis, and frankly, they will look a lot nicer.
I invite our local councillors to take a walk around the village, and to make note of instances where householders could benefit from a suggestion that they get the hedge clippers out. Common sense, and consideration for others, should encourage people to trim back their hedges without the need for coercion. But if pavement parking is to be outlawed then I hope overgrown hedges can be similarly dealt with.
Name and address withheld
Friends of St Wilfrid’s Church – Feb ’26
