Felling & Clearing Sites

[daltontrees]

And by the time everyone has finished messing about another contractor would have been in there done the job and sent the invoice in. The developers we work for want every site flattened period, they wont have a tree dictate the layout of any site they own. On one site in particular it was checked for tpo`s and restrictions late on a friday afternoon , we were in on the saturday and dropped 300 trees. Its a crap way of working trying to clear up a bomb site but the stakes are high with development land.. I have seen one developer spend upwards of £180,000 to re stock a garden with trees and shrubs, in fact he planted more than we took out.

 

Bob

 

True, we've all done it or been leant on to do it. See my reply to btggaz, it is not unlawful to clear a site before making planning application. It is for the LPA to foresee threats to trees that have valuable amenity and then protect them by TPO before they can be removed. This is rarely the case with development sites since the TPO will be challengable if the trees are not highly visible from a public area before development starts.

 

So hypothetically speaking if that 300 tree site required a Felling License because of the volume of timber, none was applied for, on Monday a local do-gooder got the Forestry Commission down there, there was a breach of Forestry Act, someone's getting fined for it... is it you or the developer? Who would have been expected to be aware of the need for Felling License? If it's the Arb he should have advised client. If it's the client the Arb is in the clear although some of the s**t will stick to his reputation anyway. Sounds like commercial gambling to me. I'd always make sure client knows that there is a possible breach of Forestry Act and then if he wants me to go ahead anyway I will be there at dawn on Saturday morning, with hand saws if so required and so instructed and so priced.

[finky]

And there was me thinking ...they do all the ground work drainage , sewers , footings , bases , put in all the water and gas and electric services , first and second fixings build em up and top em off , then land scape and then ooo we better get all them trees out ........

 

💪

 

 

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[LeeWill]

True, we've all done it or been leant on to do it. See my reply to btggaz, it is not unlawful to clear a site before making planning application. It is for the LPA to foresee threats to trees that have valuable amenity and then protect them by TPO before they can be removed. This is rarely the case with development sites since the TPO will be challengable if the trees are not highly visible from a public area before development starts.

 

So hypothetically speaking if that 300 tree site required a Felling License because of the volume of timber, none was applied for, on Monday a local do-gooder got the Forestry Commission down there, there was a breach of Forestry Act, someone's getting fined for it... is it you or the developer? Who would have been expected to be aware of the need for Felling License? If it's the Arb he should have advised client. If it's the client the Arb is in the clear although some of the s**t will stick to his reputation anyway. Sounds like commercial gambling to me. I'd always make sure client knows that there is a possible breach of Forestry Act and then if he wants me to go ahead anyway I will be there at dawn on Saturday morning, with hand saws if so required and so instructed and so priced.

 

When dealing with landowners it is ur duty to inform them of all the penalties involved before commencing work, but like I said earlier, I'm a cutter not a development manager. If they say it's all cool and give me it in writing that I'm not liable then I'll steam ahead, I won't sit around for weeks waiting to see the final edit of all the submitted plans. Money is better in my pocket than some one else's. But fair point on the legality of it all

[daltontrees]

Money is better in my pocket than some one else's. But fair point on the legality of it all

 

Me too, but I think that reputation is everything, more important than a quick buck on one job. I think you can usually tell when you're being set up by a client to take the rap if writs are flying. Anyway, it has been useful to ponder the finer details, will stand me and hopefully any person reading this in good stead sometime. I just need to remmember the key words 'immediately required' AND 'authorised by planning permission'.

[LeeWill]

I will remember those words too for future reference as I want to expand from just a cutter into something much bigger. With great responsibility comes greater headaches

[openspaceman]

 

So hypothetically speaking if that 300 tree site required a Felling License because of the volume of timber, none was applied for, on Monday a local do-gooder got the Forestry Commission down there, there was a breach of Forestry Act, someone's getting fined for it... is it you or the developer?

 

Both the person felling and the person causing the felling

[combined tree services]

Is there planning permission granted for the development of the site ? unless there is a notable woodland or the F.C are generally not interested , if there is a current application in the system but no tpo/emergency tpo's placed then i would be getting on with the job BUT it is bird nesting season and on a job of this sort of size you will undoubtedly have nests present !!! i can assure you that you will have a whole world more hassle on the bird nesting side that the actual felling and clearing of the site

[aspenarb]

Both the person felling and the person causing the felling

 

It seems very strange that on the monday morning nothing ever happens even when all the locals have called just about every authority that owns a phone . Yes the tree officer normally turns up, yes we sometimes get a visit from the FC . They always shrug their shoulders walk away saying the same thing " we have to be seen to follow up on complaints" . If there was the remotest chance of being prosecuted I would not be there. Going back to my first post, just get a written work order detailing the work and it clearly stated that the site is free from restrictions.

 

Bob

[treequip]

Both the person felling and the person causing the felling

 

That's going to depend on employment status

[daltontrees]

That's going to depend on employment status

 

I think it's going to depend on who was responsible for checking if License was needed. Any contractor that blamed his employee would not only be a contemptible s**t but would get laughed out of court. If contractor says to client, 'I think you might need a felling license' and the client says 'stuff that, get them down' then it's the client's fault even if he has no fingerprints on the saws. The problem is as ever that if the client gets you in to advise on the logistics of clearing a site, how long it will take etc. and how much it will cost, and the contractor does this and is then appointed. The FC comes along with a fine. Client says 'I don't know anything about trees, this guy should have told me, he's the tree guy, give him the fine' and the contractor says 'it wasn't for me to check that the client was aware of felling licenses and the need for them, I'm just the cutter'. So who gets the fine?

 

Personally I intend never to be in that position. I advise and check anyway regardless if it's my respoinsibility.