'Woody Lane'

Sat 21 Dec 2013, 22:52

I also raised this matter as part of my general report to the Town Council this month which resulted in the Town Clerk also contacting Nick Dalby His reply echoes what was said by Mike Williams but it is here in full below
I think the main points are
1. That the work was carried out without permission
2. That certainly some of the trees felled were over the prescribed size

This certainly constitutes an offence and the District Council has a Statutory obligation to investigate the offence. We should concentrate on this alone. I think that photographs showing the size of the remaining stumps would help and a diagram showing where these were located. I would encourage everyone to write in about this and also to ask for our District Councillors Liz Hywel Davies to also follow it up.
I believe that if a large number of local residents complain and base this is the evidence that WODC would find it hard to ignore .

Copy of email from Nick Dalby
Thanks for your note. I'm sorry I couldn't reply before your meeting last night. The case papers are with our Enforcement Team for review and to decide on appropriate next steps. I doubt that the pace of proceedings is as rapid as local residents would like but it needs to be looked at in the context of all the other planning contraventions that are taking place which also require investigations, legal procedures to follow etc, all of which takes a considerable amount of time.

It should be borne in mind that however unfortunate the land clearance was it was carried out lawfully, apart from the removal of the stems that were over a size which required prior notification. The Council will need to assess the degree of harm caused to the character of the Conservation Area by the removal of those particular stems only and not the clearance of the large volume of smaller trees and scrub nor the potential future use of the land. It will also need to decide whether it would be in the public interest to seek to pursue legal proceedings in the circumstances.

Regards,

Nick Dalby
Landscape & Forestry Officer
Planning & Sustainable Communities Service
West Oxfordshire District Council
Elmfield, New Yatt Road, Witney, Oxon, OX28 1PB
Tel: 01993 861662
nick.dalby@westoxon.gov.uk
www.westoxon.gov.uk