Correspondence.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 37, 26 March 1864, Page 2

Correspondence.

GORSE HEDGES. TO THE EdITOS OF THE ' NELSON EXAMINEE.' Sib — The late burning of gorse hedges in town appears to hare aroused the public to a sense of the danger and. annoyance that is caused by the spread of gorse on both public and private property ; and it is to be hoped that no similar warning will be required to remind us of our utter helplessness, should a fire extend, to the rows of lioxisee. Your article of Tuesday docs not exaggerate the evils arising from the present •wild growth of gorse hedges, and your correspondent, " A Rate-payer," has undoubtedly a grievance. But are not these evils aud grievances caused principally by the unworkable character of the Gorse Hedges Act, passed by the Provincial Council in 1861 ? That Act provides, Ist, that no gorse hedges shall be planted adjoining a public street ; and, second, that existing fences so situate shall be " properly trimmed " once at least in each half-year ; and that, in case of neglect to trim them "as aforesaid," a penalty of not exceeding £5 may be imposed. Now, sir, to carry such an Act into effect, it would be necessary, in the lirst place, to understand the j meaning of the term "properly trisaaed." Doe*

it imply that the hedge is to be cut down to the height of one foot, or eight ibt-t ? nnd to what thickness ? Are the thriving gorse plants which fill up the ditches and overgrow the road alongside, to bo considered part of the hedge, and therefore " properly trimmed" in company with it ? Perhaps some of your readers will supply a " proper " defiuition of the term, that may help us over one difficulty. Then there is the next: Who will declare on otith, that to his own knowledge such a hedge was not "properly trimmed" between the Ist of January'and the 30th of June, and between the Ist of July and the 31st of December ? To carry out eufh a* clause, it would be necessary to appoint an especial officer to walk all over the town at least once a week, and keep a regular hedge diary. And even then the lnw may be evaded by trimming the hedge the last week in June, and givirfg it another clip the first week in July. When the Act was before the Council, I pointed out these objections to several of the members, and I gave to the late Mr. Kerr, member for Waimea-west, a memorandum of certain matters upon which I thought a Gorse Act should bo founded. To tho best of my recollection, it was something to the following effect: —l. Tho Act to extend throughout the province. 2. Occupiers or owners of land having gorse or other fences adjoining a public road or street to keep such road or street clear of all gorse or other offshoots from the hedge, and to keep the hedge trimmed to not exceeding a certain height and thickness, and so as not to encroach on any part of the road or street. 3. Division fences to' be trimmed by either party, and provision to be made that (unless for a special purpose, to be approved by both parties) no division hedge be allowed of a dangerous height or thickness. 4. Penalties to be enforced at any time upon persons neglecting to trim either front or division fences after receiving notice from the proper authorities. Had such a law been passed, there need have been no difficulty in carrying it into effect; but I suppose our provincial representatives (?) were too proud to take a hint from an amateur —and hence the present abortion. It is a good thing that attention has at length been called to the matter, and it is to be hoped that the town members will make it their business, during the ensuing session, to get some measure passed that will do away with the nuisance. But it surely is not necessary to prohibit entirely the planting of gorse hedges; for nothing looks nicer, either in summer or winter, than a neatly clipped gorse hedge. Look, for instance, at the one in front of Mr. Biggs', on the Wainiea-road —it can injure no one, and it would be positive injustice to compel the owner to destroy it. Because some persons allow gorse hedges to grow to excess, must those grown in moderation be entirely done away with ? You might as well agree to have the Maine Liquor Law. To effect the greatest good to the greatest number, does not necessarily imply that you must be unjust to the minority. Why some of the streets in this city go over hills so steep and barren, that a gorse hedge is the only kind of fence that you can place there ; and yet the wonderful Act prohibits you from doing so, under a penalty of £5. Let us hope then, that the Act will be repealed and another substituted, which, while protecting the public from injury, and providing for the clearing of the streets, will 3 et not so far interfere with private rights as to deprive a person of that which is a pleasure to him, and cannot be any annoyance to the public, or only to those few who, dog-in-the-manger-like, "can't abear" gorse fences themselves, and would therefore deprive others of them. I am, &c, J. L. Bailey. No. 1, Trafalgar-street, March 24. ' i