Proper Cornishmen called in to do job on bodged highway hedges

A COMPANY that used inexperienced outsiders to build Cornish hedges that subsequently collapsed has admitted its mistake and been forced to turn to local experts.

As part of a £330million upgrade to the A30, National Highways had commissioned the building of eight miles of traditional hedges to line the route near Truro in Cornwall, including the A3075.

The technique, which dates back thousands of years, involves constructing steep stone-faced banking filled with earth that has bushes or trees growing out of the top.

Done properly they last for hundreds of years, but those built by Costain on behalf of National Highways crumbled almost immediately. Heavy rain then washed the hedges inside away.

There have been at least 20 collapses in just one mile of hedging, according to local media.

At the time, a local hedging expert who had visited the site said that the builders had “no clue what they’re doing” and accused Costain of using foreign workers with no experience and not engaging with the Guild of Cornish Hedgers.

“Everybody wants beautiful Cornish hedges but nobody wants to pay for them,” the expert said.

Costain said then that it had followed the guild’s guidelines. Now, however, National Highways has admitted its mistake and has hired a local company to do the job.

“Sub-contractors will be rebuilding the defective and weather-damaged sections and this work will not represent any increase to the overall project cost,” said Nick Simmonds-screech, National Highways project director.

“We have been engaging with the Guild of Cornish Hedgers since the early days of the scheme and, in the meantime, we’ve enlisted the support of a local supplier experienced in the construction of Cornish hedges in the South West.”

The hedger said: “You get the wrong people on a project and this is what happens. People will pay thousands to build a house, but when it comes to hand and earth and stone nobody wants to pay. It’s a proper skill.”

With weeks of heavy rain continuing in the South West, he said he expected that the newly hired local contractors would struggle to use what was left of the original attempt at hedge building.

Archaeological evidence has pointed to some Cornish hedges being thousands of years old, making them among the oldest human structures still used for their original purpose.

Costain was contacted for comment.

‘People will pay thousands to build a house, but when it comes to hand, earth and stone nobody wants to pay’