Definition Of Forestry (Help Urgently Required)

[Scouse Lee]

Hey Guys I need help desperately. I have lived in my house for 5 years now, it is agricultural tenancy which means the occupier has to work in agriculture or forestry. All the time & have lived here I have worked for various companies as a tree surgeon & now run my own business, (just me & 1 or 2 helpers as required), and everything has been fine until some idiot I fell out with,(you'll love the story about it, when I have more time), decided to leave the village because he couldn't get his own way on a certain matter involving the council. Anyhow as a parting gesture he has informed the council that the tenancy of the house is not being complied with because I am a tree surgeon not a 'forester', result being the council are investigating with a view to throwing me & my family, (me, the missus, 6 kids, 1 grandson, 4 dogs, 6 chickens & 3 goats lol), out of our home. My business involves carrying out private work on trees, hedges, grass cutting etc. but also entails hedgerow & woodland management on a few of the local farms including my landladies who has miles of hedgerow & a nice bit of woodland that I manage on an ongoing basis. To add to this one of my stepsons has worked on local farms for the last 2 years & still is.

To cut this short does anyone know where I stand, I have tried in vain to find information regarding section 221(1) of the town & country planning act 1962 to which the tenancy agreement refers, stupid thing is when I 1st moved in I was more of a groundsman, (ie cutting grass & tending to shrubs), than a tree surgeon & the council ok'd me!

Please guys I'm desperate on this 1, I'm sure someone out there will give me good advice.

Thanks in advance

Lee:thumbup1:

[Vertical Lmit]

Lee how much of your work entails forestry as a rough percentage. Sounds like you need to get good legal representation. Do you or your family have entitlement to legal aid. I can do what i can from here to advise you but this is a rather grey area within the law. Fear not though these things can often be resolved in a meeting with your local council and at worse can be dragged out for many years. The local authorities may have had strained dealings with your neighbour and be happy to come to an amicable arrangement. If you send me an email address should at least be able to start you in the right direction.

 

Hello to everyone i have not spoken with for nearly two years. Work has taken me far and wide now settling back to normal. Hope that you are all safe and well seems an age since the old proclimber postings

[Amelanchier]

I don't think there is a definition of forestry in planning law

 

Here is the act you referred to:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1962/pdf/ukpga_19620038_en.pdf

 

Which defines Agriculture in S221 as:

 

"agriculture" includes 'horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, 'the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes, and "agricultural" shall be construed accordingly;"

 

One might suppose that if its not defined in their local plan /development framework policies they would grab a dictionary?

 

"the science of planting and taking care of large areas of trees"

[Pine Marten]

Sounds like total twaddle mate.

 

forester definition

 

for·ester (fôr′is tər, fär′-)

 

noun

 

1. a person trained in forestry

2. a person in charge of a forest or trees

3. a person or animal that lives in a forest

4. any of a family (Agaristidae) of metallic-green or velvety-black moths

 

Etymology: ME < OFr forestier < ML forestarius

 

 

O.K. so this is the literal not legal definition but in my book its a broad church

 

try this link below which is as close as dammit and refers to Manwood's Treatise on forestry 1598

 

Definition of 'Forest'

 

Speak to your local CAB and seek legal advice, but frankly I can not see how they could make that one stick - the press would have a field day!

[skyhuck]

TBH, I think the idea of agricultural tenancy's is that you need to live there in order to do you job, IE tend to your stock, or fell your trees.

 

The fact that you go to other sites too work really means you could live else where and still do your work.

 

I'm sure this is not what you want to hear, but I'm just trying to br honest

 

I think its a real shame the council don't have better things to do.

 

My advice would be stand you ground, plead ignorance and leave them to make all the moves, often if it not easy for them and a bit of a grey area, they may well loose interest.

 

I really hope things work out.

[Scouse Lee]

Thanks guys, I knew you would come up trumps. Gonna follow some of those links now & get myself a plan.

Cheers

Lee

[Rupe]

My old boss bought some land with agricultural tie and he did arb work not forestry. He had soem problems but found a case where it had been allowed in the past and he got a laywer on to it and all was ok.

 

So it can be done. I can't help you with any facts though and I hope I never speak to the bloke ever again so I can't ask, sorry, but I remember it well at the time.

 

 

So you don't need to prove the definition of forestry but you need to find cases where this has occurred before and use that as a precident (sp?).

[Scouse Lee]

Cheers Rupe

I have found lots of cases that involved agricultural ties but none that involved a tree surgeon, in most cases I've looked at the council have backed down.

[Rupe]

Cool. If you are searchign on the net then use Arboriculture instead of tree surgeon, thats the definition which has been allowed as agricultural in the previous cases I refer to.

[felixthelogchopper]

You could try any local university with a law faculty to advise you on the availability of pro bono advice locally