Safely Seeing the Wood for the Trees
03 December 2007
1. Woodland facts
Around 10% of the United Kingdom (2.5 million hectares) is covered in trees . Although many woodlands are part of mixed estates or on farms, a recent survey showed that there are currently about 170,000 hectares of unmanaged woodland in Britain. Correctly using and managing these areas can confer benefits on both present and future generations.
2. Exploiting potential
As well as offering sound capital investment and commercial timber prospects, woodlands provide opportunities to exploit a tree resource and generate income from recreation and amenity such as:
- pheasant shoots
- erecting/letting log cabins
- paintballing
- equestrian trails
- educational facilities
3. Legal pitfalls
3.1 If a landowner decides to use his woodland for the purposes mentioned above, he must check that he does not fall foul of any other regimes, such as:
- being in breach of planning, or tree preservation orders
- creating secure tenancies
- (if he is a tenant) causing his own lease to be forfeit
- deviating from any scheme terms leading to repayment
- disturbing protected wildlife
3.2 The landowner must also consider (whether he involves himself in these extra enterprises or not) his own liability for the trees and their management. The owner and/or occupier of land upon which trees stand is generally liable for any loss or damage resulting from fallen branches or from the falling of the tree itself. Falling branches have resulted in deaths and caused serious road accidents.
3.3 Under health and safety legislation, all occupiers (i.e. any persons occupying or having control of the land) have responsibilities to ensure the safety of those carrying out the work on the trees. In addition, pursuant to the Occupiers Liability Act 1984 an occupier owes a duty of care to those who enter his land (even if they are trespassing).
3.4 In the recent case of Poll v Asquith, a motorcyclist suffered serious injuries when he collided with a branch of a tree which had fallen due to a structural defect and fungal decay. The landowner was found liable. The inspector he had hired was not sufficiently experienced. He had relied on "drive-by" checks and had not carried out a proper inspection of the tree that would have discovered the problem.
4. Risk management: the basic issues
4.1 In order to endeavour to minimise liability, occupiers must take reasonable steps to manage risk. This will include establishing an inspection programme which will look at the entire tree and should concentrate on such significant risk factors as:
- older trees
- woodland containing paths
- recreational areas
- land adjacent to highways.
4.2 Further inspections should be carried out after severe weather. Occupiers must ensure that all inspectors have appropriate qualifications/experience.
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