Commercially viable amenity uses for woodland

[eggsarascal]

This seems to be popular.

 

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Amy Acorn's Forest School & Outdoor Activities, Great Waldingfield. 298 likes. Forest school and outdoor activity...

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by eggsarascal

[Jack.P]

Had an idea for a while I came up with someone for a small private burial site within a ancient woodland .one off fee for a private garden type area then annual maintenance charge aswell.

[gary112]

Outdoor rave

[the village idiot]

47 minutes ago, Jack.P said:

Had an idea for a while I came up with someone for a small private burial site within a ancient woodland .one off fee for a private garden type area then annual maintenance charge aswell.

It's a nice idea but I doubt you would ever get permission for this in an ancient woodland. The soils are too precious and dead grannies too enriching.

[Dan Maynard]

I volunteer in a Woodland Trust ancient wood near us, it's popular with dog walkers. I forget the exact amount but it's something like a ton a year of dog crap to get rid of from the bins.

[devon TWiG]

The stumbling block for any idea would be planning permission as it is a change of use if over 28 days per annum , some LA's might favour ideas but if not then the ensuing planning application regs and process may be so expensive even if successful that costs are unlikely to be recouped .....things like access / highways , environmental impact assessment , bat survey , woodland management plan ...blah , blah , blah . I have 4-5 acres and not wanting to do much with it yet so many people think there is potential ( in their dreams ) to build a house etc etc . I am in a National park as well so no chance , not that I even want to anyway !!

[Conor Wright]

42 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

I volunteer in a Woodland Trust ancient wood near us, it's popular with dog walkers. I forget the exact amount but it's something like a ton a year of dog crap to get rid of from the bins.

At least they're putting it in the bins.

[woodland dweller]

We looked into how our woods could generate some money, had a chap i know walk around to come up with some

idea's, we have around 23 acres of mostly softwood.

Airsoft : luckily we are on a slope which is ideal for this. Divide into zones with a different scenario for each zone.

Can't be near rights of way, roads or neighbours.

Archery Clubs : local Archery clubs maybe looking for somewhere to spend the day with targets. 

Airgun clubs : Same as above. If you have spent £100's on an Airgun you will want somewhere to use it, silent so won't upset the local's.

Scout groups : maybe looking for somewhere to set up camp for a day and night, for a small fee.

Their maybe insurance costs, and permission from local council. 

In the end we opted for big J's idea and he came and took out half the softwood.

 

[Big J]

12 hours ago, woodland dweller said:

We looked into how our woods could generate some money, had a chap i know walk around to come up with some

idea's, we have around 23 acres of mostly softwood.

Airsoft : luckily we are on a slope which is ideal for this. Divide into zones with a different scenario for each zone.

Can't be near rights of way, roads or neighbours.

Archery Clubs : local Archery clubs maybe looking for somewhere to spend the day with targets. 

Airgun clubs : Same as above. If you have spent £100's on an Airgun you will want somewhere to use it, silent so won't upset the local's.

Scout groups : maybe looking for somewhere to set up camp for a day and night, for a small fee.

Their maybe insurance costs, and permission from local council. 

In the end we opted for big J's idea and he came and took out half the softwood.

 

It wasn't half the softwoods! Though maybe if you include the clearfell areas it was. 

 

It's looking lovely now, if I do say so myself. You're a lucky man to have such a fine stand of douglas on your back doorstep. Oh, and some big ugly beech! ?

[The avantgardener]

I had to clear up a hell of a mess made by a paintball group who had been using a section of woodland near me, barricades, trenches, the lot.

There is a guy near me who has a coppice rotation producing biochar, he chips the wood before putting it into a series of kilns, they are linked so they draw off heat from one to the next, he adds all kinds of organic material to produce a high grade soil improver with a good retail price.

He has also created burial plots under all the large Oak standards, “Family Trees” where the whole family can be buried, easy to find in the woods as they all have a GPS location.

There was also a farmer near Brighton who did something similar, test drilled for minerals etc, applied for planning for affordable housing, all came to nothing so he mapped out a whole load of burial plots then sold them for a fixed price including a tree, basically sold the land for ten times the going rate and created a woodland.

If the soil type is viable you could plant Hazel with rootstocks impregnated with Truffle, the British stuff is not rated as highly as the French ones but are still a good return within 5 years.

Combine this with bushcraft, greenwood working and forest school access and it might have legs, not sure how you would fit it all in around the day job though?