Chainsaw massacre

[RobinP]

I have a main power line running through woods behind my house. It has never been a probelm but recently we have had two power cuts, one because of the unseasonal snow at the end of October and the other for some unknown malfunfunction. Now as a result of one of my neighbours ringing up the council the woods have been trimmed (i.e decimated) as a result. Hopefully the foxes, muntjacs and bullfinches will still come visiting.

[Mungo]

Funny you should say that, the council are outside my block 'trimming' the trees right now!

Herts council should concentrate on litter/poo clearing not tree 'trimming'

[RobinP]

This is the result of the 'trimming':



Hope I'm still around to enjoy the 'Heartwood Forest'.

[Mungo]

OMG that looks terrible Robin

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by RobinP

This is the result of the 'trimming':

That's awful Why couldn't they have just chopped away some of the higher branches that were actually interfering with the cables? Talk about going to the extreme

It also annoys me when trees that line some of our local lanes....or smaller ones that make up hedgerows......are literally hacked to bits, rather than being sensitively trimmed.
Modern machinery just rips them apart and destroys a lot of precious habitat in the process

[The Woodman]

Looks like a tidy job to me. The brash has been chipped and the sycamore lengths have been stacked. Just think of all that lovely sunlight that'll be able to reach the ground and encourage plant growth where once nothing grew because the sycamores blocked the light. Just image all those lovely fungi that WaBBers love so much growing on the pile of chips. Just imaginge all the invertebrates that'll enjoy the rotting wood (if left there). Just imagine many more years without powercuts. Just imagine the prolific bramble growths that should occur and the secure habitat they'll give the precious muntjac (another imposter like the sycamore), the foxes to lie up in and the small birds to nest in. Just imagine the young bramble shoots being eaten by the muntjac, the blackberries being eaten by blackbirds, woodmice and children.

[Gill Catton]

Its worth pointing out that clearing strips in woodland like this can be really beneficial as it opens up the light for the ground flora and then the understorey to develop and the butterflies will love it. Species such as nightingale depend on this sort of thing happening from time to time. In addition this looks like relatively young plantation woodland, (is it on the edge of something more ancient perhaps?). These types of woodland often suffer from poor ground flora possibly due to being too over-shaded in their development this creation of a gap may then help improve this.

You could have an interesting project here monitoring the bird and insects life as this patch starts to re-grow. All sorts of flowers may turn up that weren't there before (though the muntjac may eat them before you've had a chance to notice them)

To be honest the biggest threat to your woodland will be the muntjac not this bit of clearance. Munjact will happily munch their way through the ground flora and any understory they can reach. You may like them, but they're bad news for biodiversity.

Many organisations are clearing vegetation now so that they don't risk destroying birds nests later on in the season.

[Meta menardi]

A little trim here and a quick barbering there would mean the disturbance has to be repeated quite frequently, and trees that have had a little trim will produce compensatory growth, and just make more problems. Looks a tidy job to me, and you will get your 'leccy without problems now.

[nutmeg]

It might look a bit bleak at the moment, but just wait and see what spring and summer bring. We got tree surgeons in last winter to open up the wooded area at the bottom of our garden - and it's really benefited from letting more light in. It did look a bit butchered when it was first done though!

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by RobinP

I have a main power line running through woods behind my house. It has never been a probelm but recently we have had two power cuts, one because of the unseasonal snow at the end of October and the other for some unknown malfunfunction. Now as a result of one of my neighbours ringing up the council the woods have been trimmed (i.e decimated) as a result. Hopefully the foxes, muntjacs and bullfinches will still come visiting.

Probably no need to blame your neighbour (and as others have said it's not the disaster it now looks) anyway the reasons for the cutting are sound safety issues placed into law now being acted upon:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file34072.pdf

What the law requires Electricity companies (such as National Grid, Scottish & Southern Energy, ScottishPower, United Utilities, CE Electric UK, Central Networks, EDF Energy and Western Power Distribution) are currently required by law to keep trees clear of overhead lines for reasons of public safety. This is changing. New laws coming in that mean companies must also keep sufficient distance between trees and overhead lines to avoid them interfering with supply and so improve reliability.
The new requirements mean that more extensive tree cutting will be carried out than before, with trees that pose a high risk being removed. Some electricity companies
may need to catch up with a backlog of works to improve supply reliability to the desired level. Hence, the new law will not be enforced until 2009 to give companies sufficient time to get up to date and to get regular tree cutting regimes in place.


CM