Anno

Depends on if its Policy or Strategy - it makes a lot of difference, the latter is a long process, usually involving legal process and consultation, in my experience officers usually are overworked and underfunded but do need to give consideration on a one to one basis and try to get a positive outcome for all parties. *stands well back and waits for the Council/tree officers are just scum posts*

As a TO and resident 'Council arsehole' I would say apply for works, it looks like a classic case of the Planners over riding the Tree Officers comments.

this is great, are there more episodes of 'Dickheads with Insects' available?

I was teaching level 3 Arbs when somebody came into the lecture room and said the Towers had gone and two planes had crashed into them, I remember saying ' has Superman arrived yet?' stupid, inane and callous as it transpired, we went down to the changing rooms and watched it on the stashed portable telly, usually reserved for the World Cup games, and watched in open mouthed silence. When I got home my kids and partner where sat around the TV watching the story develop further, in tears. Game changing, tragic day.

yep deffo Lammer, superb beasts!

Short Toed eagle? Wheatear and very impressed with Alpine Chough - Spain?

Climate, pest and disease ecological factor, grazing / browsing pressure, anthropormphic ie leisure activity or management.

Phytophthora bleeding canker? or bacterial wetwood as we once called it?

Most LAS's can't afford an Ecologist so it can get farmed out to an independant advisery service, sometimes the TO has bat experience/ survey hours and can comment too, I do freelance bat/Eco work but not on 'my patch' Its a good sytem, straight forward and works well.

Bats: surveys and mitigation for development projects - GOV.UK WWW.GOV.UK Standing advice for local planning authorities to assess impacts of development on bats. Its usually a scoping survey (are there any?) and if so 2 Dusks and a Dawn to track back, the Report then goes to the Planners.

best info is here - Oak processionary moth (Thaumetopoea processionea) - Forest Research WWW.FORESTRESEARCH.GOV.UK Information, advice and guidance on the introduced pest oak processionary moth caterpillar (Thaumetopoea processionea) in Great Britain

I think your major problem would be the Oak, the Council will want at least a plan to show accurate positions and plotted RPA's - all pretty standard stuff to be honest? As for checking if the Application Form boxes have been ticked, most planners will check anyway.

Not if its an Academy, its like Council Houses - most Local Authroities don't have them any more so they are owned by Housing Associations - good old Thatcher!

Looks like they could be going to 'Ring' the birds for monitoring purposes, but they should have sought permissions.

must be the heat...

Yeah, lovely male Golden Oriole, stunning bird and increasingly rare.

I am just reporting from the press release and finding it really difficult to find any further details that doesn't include bias from either side of the fence, in my opinion if an offence was committed and the nest contained birds or eggs the outcome is piss poor and shows how ineffective the law is, I have knowledge of the terminology 'restorative justice' and still await the person who felled 2 TPO'd trees in my old Borough 7 years ago to do his 48 hours with the Council's litter pickers.

Some birds, known as ‘schedule 1 birds’, eg barn owls, have extra legal protection. For these bird species it’s also an offence to do the following, either intentionally or by not taking enough care: disturb them while they’re nesting, building a nest, in or near a nest that contains their young disturb their dependent young You could get an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison for each offence if you’re found guilty.

The original report states 'active' so within the breeding process.

It was a shooting estate, also anyone who’s spent any time in a wood with an active goshawk nest in the breeding season cannot fail to notice it, and if you’re a forester that spends most days out amongst the trees, there is absolutely no way you’d miss it. Huge in structure, everywhere covered with white crap and prey remains, and the adults are very vocal! (This is not a cryptic species that cowers down and maintains silence by playing dead when under threat.) I would argue that it is virtually impossible to stand next to the nest tree, fell it with a chainsaw and remove the trunk and all the branches without noticing there was an active goshawk nest in it, even the worst kind of idiot could not make such a mistake .

For information, poor result I would say but at least it shows that the Legislation is used sometimes - if badly!

Restorative justice used following tree felling incident which led to destruction of bird nest A man who unknowingly destroyed a bird of prey nest after cutting down trees has completed a successful restorative justice outcome. Officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team were called to an estate on the outskirts of Gloucester on Saturday 5 June where it was reported that a tree had been felled causing an active Goshawk Nest to be destroyed. The man, who is an agricultural labourer, was identified after admitting that he had felled the tree without checking for any bird’s nests. He attended for a voluntary interview and was ordered to pay a £100 donation to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). A condition was also put into place which allowed Glos Raptors Monitoring Group to access the site so that they can monitor the existing birds of prey, monitor active nests and put cameras up to protect bird of prey habitats. PC Phil Mawdsley oversaw this saying: “Bird nesting season generally takes place from March to August, however can fall outside of this period and during this time you shouldn’t cut down trees or trim hedges without checking for the presence of birds and it is an offence under Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 to disturb birds or damage their nests and unfortunately this happened after an act of recklessness. Advice around cutting hedges or trees at this time of year can be found here“. A spokesperson for the RSPB said: “It appears that this was the only tree in the wood to be felled and then completely removed at a time when it contained an active goshawk nest. Goshawk nests are huge structures and the contents of the nest would be equally obvious. “Goshawks are rare breeding birds and have been subjected to regular persecution through the years, which sadly continues today. To intentionally damage or destroy the active nest of a goshawk, or any wild bird, is against the law. Raptor Persecution is a National Wildlife Crime priority, and the goshawk is a priority species.” More information on restorative justice in the county can be found here. ENDS

Too early for Hawthorn Moth Scythropia crataegella, only on the wing in July. Its one of the Ermines but a lot of similar Micro-moth species, very common up here in Cheshire

man that python is fast!

A Woodland Order protectes the woodland and the trees that are regen in the years to come, as for thinning out and removing rhodies that is woodland management to benefit biodiversity so I would be very surprised if it was not supported. I would submit it has an ongoing management plan.