Whats the law?

[Scottie]

Does anybody know what the legalalities of removing wood from rivers for your own use? You know the stuff that floats down the river after the banks have burst and it is all caught up at the nearest bridge.

 

Cheers.

[djbobbins]

Don't know about the legality of it but a mate of mine from work, who lives on a canal barge just off the Trent, goes off to the river with a barrow and chainsaw to collect all the wood that washes up on the inside of a horseshoe bend.

 

I can't see that it's doing any harm to anyone; I suspect the police would be willing to be practically-minded over it.

 

As an aside - what does the law say about picking up deadwood from by the side of the road? Does this strictly belong to (a) the local authority or highways agency on whose land it is sitting; (b) the landowner whose tree the wood fell from (be it public or private land); © the first person that decides it would be useful and is willing to load it up??

[treequip]

 

i think hse would be very interested in removal from a river.

 

If you are gathering it for your own use it’s outside the HSE’s remit

[richy_B]

I work primarily in watercourse maintenance these days and we work on the basis that all blockages/obstructions are 'owned' by the riparian owner. The riparian owner defined as the person who owns the land the river crosses (its 50/50 with your neighbour if its your border).

 

A spanner I'd throw into the works is the potential damage of pulling wood from a river. If you are pulling out small lengths its not an issue but if you winch out a bit trunk you are going to tear the banks up which can lead to erosion etc.

[djbobbins]

our local council actively promote the removal of timber, from roadsides.

 

i think hse would be very interested in removal from a river.

 

Interesting; the reason that I asked the question is that I've done it (collecting deadwood from a roadside) twice in the past when desperate for firewood and I noticed something fallen and dead.

 

On both occasions the police stopped and asked what I was up to.

 

First copper was completely relaxed about it once I told him what I was up to - i.e. only taking already fallen stuff, happy to stop if if was a problem.

 

Second copper was a lot more officious and told me I shouldn't really be doing what I was doing, so since then I have been a lot more wary. Fortunately I have secured a ready source of timber for the moment so not such a problem, but who knows in the future.

 

Something did make me titter about the irony of the coppers not being very receptive about clearing fallen timber off the road. A few weeks after "second copper" incident above I saw a noddy car parked up and a plod with a silky trying to cut through something about 6" diameter...

[treequip]

50/50, if your in the river (depending on how its policed) and put yourself in danger - they may throw the book at you.

 

Nope, there is no 50/50 its black and white, if you are operating commercially you fall under the HSE’s remit. If you are gathering your own firewood you don’t fall under the HSE’s remit.

[treequip]

The wood belongs to whoever owns the land it is on, most land bordering a water course has riparian rights and the owner can lay claim to whatever drifts up on their land.

 

The Environment agency is charged (among other things) with keeping water courses clear and while they may not own the land they have statutory powers to clear the water course.

 

If you are taking wood from the river you are effectively stealing, until recently this would have been considered de minimis (not worth the bother to the law) however the current value of firewood means that a land owner could get upset if you are making off with wood they could use (even if they had no intention of getting it themselves)

 

As others have said if you do any damage while extracting the timber the land owner isn’t going to be pleased and charges could go as far as theft and criminal damage.