Looks like they’ve cut down trees

[AllrightNowBaby]

AIBU to pursue this issue?
During the Summer I walk my dog around a nearby wood.
This weekend I was shocked to see a very large area, behind two houses backing onto the wood, had been decimated of trees,
After speaking to other dog walkers, someone had seen men cutting the trees during Winter and they thought it odd as obviously not council workers.
The wood is looked after by the Parks and Gardens dept, so I reported it to them.
They took some notes and told me they’d get back to me but haven’t done.
I feel I should take this further, as it’s obviously the residents of the two houses who have wantonly destroyed 10 mature trees, leaving a very obvious and odd square of tree stumps, huge logs and huge mounds of wood chips.
I think this must be criminal damage to destroy trees on land not belonging to you.
I’m thinking of reporting to the Parish Council and if no joy from them, the local MP.
Has anyone any other suggestions?

Well you can check if any had a TPO on them first. Google it and your local area and it should come up.

Oh goodness me, presumably they know that it's bird nesting season and they had a suitable ecological survey and watching brief in place? They wouldn't want to commit an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

TPO completely irrelevant here. Not their trees to cut down. Criminal damage.
Yes please pursue it @AllrightNowBaby
Council, MP, parks and gardens dept. Keep at them. Wanton destruction of wildlife makes me - wild!

Can you remember if they were the same type of tree? Many trees in our local area have been taken down because of Ash die back.
Do you research, then seek answers when you have the full information available.

Do check if they were Ash trees as loads have been felled around here due to ash dieback.

You need actual info before doing anything.

@Fifiesta snap lol

Tragic though, it looks like the orcs from Lord of the Rings have been through here.

How do they know they were definitely not council workers?

After speaking to other dog walkers, someone had seen men cutting the trees during Winter and they thought it odd as obviously not council workers.

Councils don't send their own workers to cut down trees, they contract tree surgeons to do it.

I think it's unlikely that random people came and cut down the trees, unless maybe the people living in the houses contracted them due to light blocking etc?

Could it be part of an ash dieback management? Huge swathes of woodland near me have been cut down due to this, but there's clear signage in place locally about it.

Ask your local councillor to find out.

They would be contractors. Councils don’t have tree surgeons. The important info is who owns the land. Was it a cash crop or ancient woodland? Woods are often used for their wood crop and then replanted. It’s not always necessarily a disaster to cut trees down as woods must regenerate. It was also in winter so that’s not illegal.

Thanks for advice heldinadream, I’m absolutely fuming.
Other dog walkers I’ve mentioned it to have been pretty apathetic, some shrugging and saying that it must have put shade on their gardens.
I replied, then they shouldn’t buy a house with a wood behind, if the trees annoy them so much they can move….. but what you don’t do is cut down ten healthy trees which don’t belong to you, ruining it for wildlife and all the rest of us.

If they cut them down in the winter there weren’t birds nesting. A wood will have a lot more trees. These could have been in a dangerous condition or diseased. You need to calm down a bit. 10 trees isn’t a wood!

Woodlands need management. It could be that there were diseased trees (eg ash) or part of the wood has been coppiced. How do you know that it’s obviously the residents of the two houses who have wantonly destroyed 10 mature trees?

How do you know they were residents? As pp have said, councils employ tree surgeons as contractors all the time

It may not be the house owners. My friend has a long garden which backs on to woods. They have never had a fence at the back as their kids loved to explore the woods from the garden.

A few months ago they noticed someone chopping trees down and clearing the area at the end of their garden. When my friend challenged them they waved a piece of paper at her and said they owned the land.

My friends have checked the land registry and it's not registered to anyone - it's ancient woodland. They are trying to get to the bottom of what is going on and have involved the council ( their house is an ex council property) They have lived there 25 years and no one has ever claimed to own the land before.

I volunteer at nature reserves and we coppice and also sometimes cut down trees to vary habitat or because they are diseased. There may be very good reasons that the trees have come down. You need to find out the actual facts before you denigrate the residents.

How is anyone going to be able to prove who has done it, if it wasn’t done officially?

@AngelsWithSilverWings It could have been part of the parcel of land bought by the council and not developed. Over the years it’s just not registered to any individual. Who normally looks after it? Has someone applied to land registry to get ownership?

How do you know the trees were healthy? Are you qualified to assess this?
How do you know the men that cut down the trees weren't contracted by the council to do so? Councils don't have tree surgeons directly employed. They have contractors that bid for tenders to work for the council for a set term. You would not be able to tell most tree surgeons from any other random bloke.

Do you know for definite that the homeowners cut the trees down?

Do you have a local Facebook group to ask?

whatever you do, don’t go accusing people of all sorts before you have all the facts.

It is highly unlikely that things haven’t gone through the correct channels. It is part of a tree surgeons job to check. Try and get some facts before you start blaming people.

You are making a lot of assumptions here based on gossip. You have no idea who cut down the trees or why.

Rather than reporting anything maybe start by asking the various depts if they cut them down