To ask the Minister of the Environment to outline in what circumstances it would be preferable to protect trees on a site subject to a development proposal by way of a planning condition attached to an outline application rather than by either a temporary or permanent Tree Preservation Order.

In August 2005 my Department published a consultation document and questionnaire seeking information on the scale and geographical spread of problems with nuisance high hedges in Northern Ireland. The consultation document was issued to a wide range of individuals and organisations including other Departments and public bodies.

The consultation exercise confirmed that the high hedge problem in Northern Ireland is at least on a par with that in England and Wales and it was accepted that legislation was necessary to deal with the problem. This assessment of the nuisance high hedges problem has not changed.

Any new scheme to deal with the issue of high hedges will be operated by local government and I would not underestimate the amount of additional work the introduction of such a scheme would have on district councils, particularly during the early stages of the scheme’s operation when the existing problems affecting many householders would need to be dealt with. It is with this in mind together with the competing priorities and resource constraints I am facing that I have decided not to progress the development of policy and legislation related to this matter until after the eleven new Councils have been elected in May 2011. This also allows staff resources in the Department’s Planning and Environment Policy Group to focus on higher priority environmental issues over the coming years.