The Courier recently reported that complaints had been made about visibility at a junction on the B1347. Drivers trying to join the road from Athelstaneford have to “nudge out probably to the point half your bonnet is over half the road”, a local community council member exaggerated.

I drive past that junction twice a day, and it is unnerving to see drivers edge out. But the view along the B1347 is pretty clear and, as a driver who knows the area, I approach with caution and watch for vehicles pulling out of that junction.

The visibility issue was blamed on the hedgerow at each side of the junction, a hedge that is routinely cut back by the landowner.

The local authority was quoted as saying: “We will be highlighting these concerns to the landowner and advising that appropriate action is taken.”

READ MORE: Concerns about visibility at junction near Athelstaneford

That’s odd, I thought. The council is responsible for roads. Why doesn’t it just put up a mirror opposite the junction?

This morning, I drove to work and was pretty horrified to see neither a mirror nor a neatly trimmed hedge – the hedge has actually been ripped out about 10 metres each side of the junction (give or take a metre – I didn’t stop to measure).

That struck me as a real ‘throwing his toys out the pram’ move by the landowner. Also a hugely unsustainable one.

Shockingly, hedges in Scotland are not protected by law.

But around 118,000 miles of UK hedgerows have disappeared since 1950, due largely to intensification of agriculture. Surely it’s not necessary to detail the importance of hedgerows to the rural ecology?

The Woodland Trust states on its website: “There are 130 Biodiversity Action Plan species closely associated with hedges, including lichens, fungi and reptiles… bank vole, harvest mouse and hedgehog all nest and feed in hedgerows alongside birds including blue tit, yellowhammer and whitethroat, while bats use them as ‘commuter routes’ for foraging and roosting.

“As well as providing food and shelter, hedges help species to move through our landscapes from one habitat patch to another. These wildlife corridors are vital for species like the rare hazel dormouse which struggle to cross large open areas like farmed fields.”

The hedgerow’s removal is destructive, short-sighted and unecological. It might seem like a small stretch of greenery but it all adds up. And all because humans apparently can’t think laterally or sensibly.

Name and address supplied