[ATTACH]131929[/ATTACH]Greetings
I'm extremely fortunate to have acquired 50 acres of beautiful woodland in the UK. It's been totally neglected for 20-30 years, in some areas the canopy is so dense you can't see daylight. The area contains quite a few different species including, Holly, Beech, Ash, Lime, Sycamore, Scots Pine, Norway Maple, Cherry, Silver Birch, Hawthorn, Willow, Scots Pine, Larch and Douglas Fir and some grand mature Oaks. Over the years, many of the native broadleaf's have been felled and replaced with conifers, presumably for economic reasons but some fine native examples still remain.
Before acquiring the land I did all the obvious necessary homework, TPO's, designed landscapes, planning restrictions etc , pretty much anything that could impact on what I could and couldn't do. The Forestry Commission have been bloody marvelous, a font of knowledge and hugely supportive, can't praise them enough. All the boxes ticked and a clean bill of health the deal was done.
Then bureaucracy enters the equation. The planning goal posts, which initially identified no potential issues suddenly move. Although the site is not registered in the official inventory as a "Designed Landscape" , the planners decide it's an area of outstanding beauty and that it should be. An attempt was made a couple of years ago to include the site in the inventory but failed, so apparently its now listed in the local inventory, interestingly, it turns out that this unofficial local inventory carries no statutory weight in the planning process.
The planners then decide that no form of woodland/forestry work can be carried out in the area. Prior to acquisition it was established the land was agricultural, which encompasses forestry operations and associated works. Absurdly , now they say the land has no classification (use) even though previous forestry works have been carried out, which, the planners are fully aware of because I gave them all the records relating to it. I then argued, surely if the land has a history and now has no classification then by omission it may fall within the parameters of agriculture, still waiting on that one.
Then there's the excruciating amount of time it takes to correspond with these people, the whole process is mind-numbing.
Anyway, I'm boring myself now, but feel better for getting it off my chest, will attempt to attach some pictures.
Simon
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