The following posts are all about Larch Removal in Gillies Hill Woodland. These posts should explain why this work is being done, and report on the current progress with this work.
- Re-Planting Updateby News TeamOver the past couple of weeks, our contractor, D A Shanks, has been on site preparing the ground for our upcoming re-planting project. This has involved extensive ground works to clear and stack areas of brash, fallen trees and other material, and create mounded planting positions across the area. This work has now been completed.… Read more: Re-Planting Update
- SPHN Replantingby News TeamSPHN Replanting Community Engagement Morning – Sunday 12th Nov, 1pm – 3pm, Gillies Hill Community Woodland ** Note the change in time ** Join us this Sunday (12th Nov) within Gillies Hill Community Woodland to hear about our exciting plans for the 3-4 year project to re-plant the area of our woodland affected by the 2021/2022 felling works. Over the… Read more: SPHN Replanting
- Replanting our Community Woodland – October 2023 Updateby News TeamProgress with the larch felling The felling of larch required by the Statutory Plant Health Notice is now complete. About a third of our woodland was affected (21ha) and as a community we can now look to replant the affected areas in line with our approved Woodland Management Plan vision & strategy: Woodland Management Vision :… Read more: Replanting our Community Woodland – October 2023 Update
- Spring 2023 – SPHN FAQ’sby News TeamWhat is a SPHN? SPHN stands for Statutory Plant Health Notice. It is a notice that is served by Scottish Forestry on woodland owners when they have found evidence of a serious plant disease that requires urgent management action to treat and prevent further spread. What did the SPHN notice mean for our Community Woodland? … Read more: Spring 2023 – SPHN FAQ’s
- Felling in Woods Starts Today (18 Aug 2022 )by LindaThe remaining 49 trees marked ‘drey’ as part of the SPHN were due to felled by 31st August. Our contractors RTS has previously estimated it would be w/c 22nd August for this to be carried out, however due to machinery issues on another site they are now able to start working today (Thursday 18th August).… Read more: Felling in Woods Starts Today (18 Aug 2022 )
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Sunday 15th May 2022by LindaAnother major milestone in this SPHN operation is that the forwarder is now offsite. Aside from where timber is stacked there are now no access restrictions within the community woodland. Brash clearance and reinstating the path network is our next challenge. Many thanks to the volunteers who joined us at the end of April and… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Sunday 15th May 2022
- FAQ’s about the SPHN Larch fellingby Jennifer FraserQ: What area does the SPHN cover? A: 21.37ha of the community woodland and all larch within that area will be felled as a result. Q: Were all the larch trees felled infected with phytophthora ramorum? A: No – there were two infected areas identified and all larch trees in a 250m radius from those… Read more: FAQ’s about the SPHN Larch felling
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 28th April 2022by Jennifer FraserThe forwarder is now working to remove logs from across the felled area (Zones 1 to 5), to the stacking area for haulage offsite. This week Zone 4 has been completed, Zone 5 nearly complete and then 3 is the next one to be worked through. Due to delays in haulage, there were a few days… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 28th April 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 14th April 2022by LindaWe’re pleased to say that the harvester has now left Gillies Hill. This means that all larch trees have now been felled – with the exception of those trees containing squirrel dreys (see below for more on this). This marks a major milestone in complying with the SPHN and turning point in working towards recovery and rejuvenation… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 14th April 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 7th April 2022by Jennifer FraserZone 5, our last zone, has been the focus both for hand-felling (guys with chainsaws) and the harvester felling and processing into logs this week. The harvester will be working on Saturday and possibly Sunday too to complete this final felling zone. For the final three days of felling please continue to avoid Zone 5… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 7th April 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 31st March 2022by LindaFelling continues at pace and should be complete towards the end of next week.. Felling larch in Zone 4 will be complete tomorrow. Some of these trees will be difficult to extract without damage to other healthy trees. These will therefore be left to decompose. The hand-cutters (guys with chainsaws) continue to fell in Zone… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 31st March 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 24th March 2022by LindaThe good weather has allowed the felling to continue at pace. The harvester has been felling larch in Zone 4 and is expected to finish in this zone on Tuesday of next week. Hand-cutters (guys with chainsaws) have moved into the last area, Zone 5, in the last couple of days. They will continue hand… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 24th March 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 17th March 2022by LindaWork to fell and remove the larch continues to progress at pace. Felling in Zone 2 is complete and the harvester has moved into Zone 3. It is anticipated Zone 3 felling will be complete by tomorrow (Fri 18th March) and felling will start in Zone 4 on Monday (21st March). RTS will not be… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 17th March 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 10th March 2022by LindaWork to fell and remove the larch is now thankfully progressing at pace. RTS (the contractor) have brought on additional felling resources by way of chainsaw operators to speed up the felling operations. The weather has been fairly kind which helps a lot. Felling in Zone 2 is anticipated to be complete by this coming… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 10th March 2022
- SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 3rd March 2022by LindaThe weather has thankfully improved enough to make progress. The forecast for the coming week appears to be favourable. The access route from the stacking area near the Walled Garden into Zone 1, including the burn crossing, was complete early this week. The harvester has therefore moved back into the felling area and will have… Read more: SPHN – Larch Removal, update Thursday 3rd March 2022
- SPHN – Larch removal, Update as of Thursday 24 Feb 2022by LindaThose that have managed to visit the woods will have noticed there has been little progress on felling or clearing the felled logs for the last week. This is wholly down to the weather including wind, rain and now snow. RTS has had an excavator on site this week preparing the stacking area and forming… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, Update as of Thursday 24 Feb 2022
- SPHN – Larch removal, Planned work From Fri 18th Feb 2022by LindaPlease refer to the update issued yesterday (Wed 16th Feb) which explained the situation with the path between the Gillies Hill sheds and the walled garden: SPHN – Larch removal, Path between Gillies Hill Entrance and Walled Garden – CCDT This path has now been closed to the public as a public safety necessity, and… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, Planned work From Fri 18th Feb 2022
- SPHN – Larch removal, Path between Gillies Hill Entrance and Walled Gardenby LindaThe purpose of this communication is to update you on the situation with the path between the Gillies Hill sheds entrance and the Walled Garden. From a public safety necessity, and also as the path will become increasingly unusable, the path between the Gillies Hill sheds entrance and the walled garden has now been completely… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, Path between Gillies Hill Entrance and Walled Garden
- SPHN – Larch removal, Planned work From Fri 11th Feb 2022by LindaThe harvester will continue to fell larch trees in zone 1 until Monday 14th Feb. It will then move into Zone 2 on Monday 14th or Tuesday 15th February. The felling operation will be ongoing on Sunday 13th February. RTS will reset the barriers and signs before the harvester moves into Zone 2. Please keep… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, Planned work From Fri 11th Feb 2022
- SPHN – Larch removal, work from Friday 4th Feb 2022by LindaFurther to the update posted last Thursday 27th January, the harvester moved onto site on Saturday and has been working within Zone 1 as planned. The weather has however caused some delays. The harvester will continue to operate in Zone 1 for the rest of this week. There has been some lost time due to… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, work from Friday 4th Feb 2022
- SPHN – Larch removal, week from 31 Jan 2022by LindaRevised Programme Planned work From Mon 31st January Following a meeting with RTS earlier this week a revised plan has been developed. This was to ensure public access to the woodland was maximised and to ensure the red squirrel population could easily move from felling to non-felling areas. To aid this, a new map has… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, week from 31 Jan 2022
- SPHN Document as Issued by Scottish Forestryby Linda
- SPHN – Larch removal, week from 24 Jan 2022by LindaThe following is an update on the larch removal. It covers work undertaken so far and the work planned for next week – week commencing Monday 24th January. For background information about the Scottish Plant Health Notice, SPHN and outline plans, please visit previous updates. Update on SPHN – Larch Removal 4th Jan 2022 SPHN-… Read more: SPHN – Larch removal, week from 24 Jan 2022
- SPHN- Larch Removal, week from 17 Jan 2022by LindaThe planning for the removal of the larch is well underway. This update aims to inform you about the planned work for next week, week commencing 17th Jan 2022, and what it means for users of the woodland. It also outlines the works planned for the following weeks.Background information about the Scottish Plant Health Notice,… Read more: SPHN- Larch Removal, week from 17 Jan 2022
- Update on SPHN – Larch Removalby LindaYou may have seen our previous post P-Ramorum SPHN Received that was posted on 5th November last year. There have been significant developments since and indeed work is likely to start to remove the larch in the next few weeks. To recap, following a routine inspection by Scottish Forestry last summer, the tree disease, phytophthora… Read more: Update on SPHN – Larch Removal
- P-Ramorum SPHN Receivedby Jennifer FraserFollowing onsite visits by Scottish Forestry inspectors in October, CCDT has on 1st November 2021 received a Scottish Plant Health Notice (SPHN) from Scottish Forestry. This was after an aerial survey which detected possible infection of phytophthora ramorum within our woodland – earlier post https://ccdt.org.uk/scottish-forestry-tree-health-inspection/ can be read if this is the first update you’ve… Read more: P-Ramorum SPHN Received
- Scottish Forestry – Tree Health Inspectionby Jennifer FraserFollowing recent aerial surveys by Scottish Forestry, trees have been identified within our woodland as marked in the maps below that Scottish Forestry would like to inspect on foot, regarding a possible serious tree disease (Phytophthora ramorum – www.forestry.gov.uk/pramorum ). This ground-based inspection will be carried out on Tuesday 21st September. To get the best… Read more: Scottish Forestry – Tree Health Inspection