Five Roads landmark’s time has come

An excavator removes a 300m-long hedge from the Otago Taieri A&P showgrounds on Gordon Rd, at Five Roads, near Mosgiel on Wednesday.

Otago Taieri A&P Society president Dale Harris said the hedge had ‘‘outgrown itself’’ and become a health and safety issue - contractors were no longer able to to cut the growth as it had got too close to the overhead powerlines.

The final decision was made by lines company Aurora, which ‘‘took ownership’’ of the hedge and decided the best course of action was to remove it, Mr Harris said.

‘‘It’s been there a long time. There’s certainly a lot of people commenting that it’s been there their whole lifetime.’’

The hedge would be replaced by a fence and native plantings, he said.