THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ROADSIDE VERGE ESTATE.

Abstract

The British Trunk Road Network was created in 1936. In England, it is the responsibility of the Highways Agency, an executive branch of the Department of Transport (DoT), and has 6600 miles of trunk roads and motorways. Its roadside verge estate is home to a wide range of native plants and animals, and also functions as an engineering component. This paper relates the history of the roadside estate, and explains the criteria for its successful maintenance and development. In 1956, the Landscape Advisory Committee (LAC) was appointed to advise on the choice of routes for new trunk roads, and very quickly recommended the use of native plants for their inter-urban roadsides. The Forestry Commission was appointed as principal managing agent of the roadside estate in 1962. The roadside estate is a complex, unique and very varied linear environment, which native plants and animals have learned to use as a refuge from intensive farming and built development, despite its hostile features. The paper describes the features of the roadside verge estate today, its planting design and implementation, its establishment maintenance phase which lasts for three years after planting, its management and innovation, and its approach to sustainable design for the 21st century. Two appendices present its landscape objectives.