Chopping down trees in "ancient woodland"

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Hi folks,

In my recent search for a new house to buy, I found a lovely house in a conservation area that came with a few acres of "ancient woodland".

In the course of viewing the house the current owner told me how he regularly chopped down trees in the woodland to fuel his woodburners. When I enquired if he had required the permission of the council to chop them down he became agitated and stated his belief of "if you don't ask them, they can't say no!"

I was a bit annoyed about this, so much of the character of the place that this house is comes from the amazing setting including the woodland.

I am now tempted to report him to the local council for chopping them down without permission - moral dilemma - would fellow MSE'ers report him or not?

Not really relevent but in to be fully transparent, we didn't end up getting the house as they turned both our offers down so we are now purchasing elsewhere.

leveller2911

Ancient woodlands have been harvested for centuries. Trees are coppiced and pollarded to harvest the wood. From what you say the guy isn't going around and taking a chainsaw to an 1000yr old Yew or Walnut tree.


An "ancient" hedgerow is classed as such because of the number of species it contains and nothing to do with its age as such. You could ask the local tree warden to have a look and see how old the trees are. Most councils have a tree warden unless they have been cut (excuse the pun).:D

Bit of useless information but centuries ago they would plant hawthorn and blackthorn in the hedges specifically to stop witches running along the tops of the hedges.

freeisgood

The local council regularly cuts back the trees, and clears large areas in our local ancient public woodland. Quite severely too. I think it benefits the woodland.

maninthestreet

Have you checked with the council whether or not the ancient woodland
in question is protected or not?

booksurr

other than a desire to cause trouble, in what way are you qualified to comment on forestry management practices?

got one of these perchance? http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/forestry-msc-by-distance-learning

do you perhaps meet the entry requirements for telling people what to do?
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/forest_woodland_manager_entry_requirements.htm

leveller2911

booksurr wrote: »

other than a desire to cause trouble, in what way are you qualified to comment on forestry management practices?

Bit over the top that..

There is nothing wrong with being concerned about our woodlands and especially ancient trees. If we accept your premise no one would complain or investigate the age of a tree. You can't protect a 1000 yr old Oak tree when its laying flat on the ground having just been dropped by a chainsaw...

I would much rather have someone like the OP than some muppet who doesn't give a toss ,so long as the OP isn't doing it to get one over on the seller for not accepting their offer.......

Marktheshark

This has to be a joke.

Chanes

Conservation area trees are protected and that's is what we were advised by the officer who gave us advice on a tpo or two on a property we were buying. Perhaps different councils have different 'takes' on c.a's?

Elsewhere

We own a small wood, classed as semi-natural ancient woodland. Not a conservation area, no tpos.We asked the council when we moved here what were the rules about cutting trees.

The answer is (from http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FellingLicenceFAQJuly2005.pdf/$FILE/FellingLicenceFAQJuly2005.pdf)
Q.
I want to fell a tree in my garden, do I need a Felling Licence?
A.
No, but you may need to contact your Local Authority to see if there is a Tree
Preservation Order on the tree or whether you are in a Conservation Area.
Q.
How many trees can I fell without a Felling Licence?
A.
Up to 5 cubic metres in any calendar quarter (e.g., Jan to Mar, Apr to Jun, Jul to Sep
and Oct to Dec), as long as no more than two cubic metres are sold. Five cubic metres is
roughly equivalent to one large oak tree
or 50 thin chestnut coppice trees.

Davesnave

Unless the chap owns some seriously heavy lifting/transporting equipment, the chances are that the trees he's been cutting have been understorey rather than the larger, ancient trees.

Yes, technically, he might still need permission for this, because people need permission to make almost any change on their own land these days, and in conservation areas trees above a certain size normally have blanket protection. However, there's clearly a common sense limit to council involvement in enforcement, especially in rural locations.

Put it another way, virtually none of the countryside is natural, so the woodland and hedgerows you see, ancient or not, are usually managed to some degree. If it's in a small parcel, say 5 acres, then the best way to ensure this is for the landowner to gain some benefit in kind. People have done this for centuries without asking permission from anyone.

You saw the woodland and we didn't. If it looked as if he'd been despoiling it, then you'd have a reason to report the matter, but as you've not suggested that, I don't believe you have grounds for interfering.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Thanks to everyone for the helpful and informative posts above. A shame about the silly or plain useless ones.

As for:

booksurr wrote: »

other than a desire to cause trouble, in what way are you qualified to comment on forestry management practices?

got one of these perchance? http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/forestry-msc-by-distance-learning

do you perhaps meet the entry requirements for telling people what to do?
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/forest_woodland_manager_entry_requirements.htm

Since when did I need to be qualified to be able to read the council's regulations which clearly state that felling any tree over 70mm trunk diameter and greater than 2m height require 6 weeks notification to the Local Planning Authority who can then decide whether to put a TPO on it or not.

So it doesn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't be able to cut them down, but by knowing he should give notice and choosing not to do so....

Where is the line drawn with these things - if he builds a big extension to his house without planning permission and I know about it, should I not let the council know? By your ill thought out logic I shouldn't even be allowed to report it because i'm not qualified in planning :eek:

Sorry, forgot to add.... there is a big difference in woodland management and chopping down a huge patch of woodland to a) fuel your wood burner and b) get sunlight onto the back of your house.... this is very much the later of the two.