Information on forestry operations at St. James woodlands

Overview

St James update – 25/10/2022

Due to some economic challenges in the timber market, the felling at St James woodland has been put on hold. We remain in close contact with our contractors and purchasers, and our working hard to resolve these issues. Operations will commence as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. 

Update on work 07/09/2022

Forest operations to remove approximately 18.9 hectares of larch trees that are infected with Phytophthora ramorum (more commonly known as larch disease) are due to take place in St James woodland this Autumn. 

The work will take approximately 9 months.

Once the felling operation is complete, the site will be restocked primarily with native broadleaves.

Update map showing operations at St James 

What is larch disease?

Larch disease, or Phytophthora ramorum, is a fungus-like disease which can cause extensive damage and mortality to a wide range of trees and other plants. Larch disease spreads through airborne spores from tree to tree. It poses no threat to human or animal health. 

Whilst we cannot stop the spread of larch disease, we can take action to slow it down.

Find out more about our approach to tackling larch disease and Ash Dieback 

Forest access during operations

We will have to close public access to the footpaths whilst the operations are taking place, to allow the work to be undertaken quickly and safely.

Whilst we do not like to close off access to our forests, which are enjoyed by many, live harvesting sites are incredibly dangerous, and this is necessary to protect the safety of our staff, our contractors, and visitors to the woodland.

Please adhere to all closures and diversion notices when they are in place. We will do everything we can to minimise disruption to the local community.

Find out more about visiting our forests safely here

Nesting birds 

Before any work begins, we work closely with a bird surveyor to thoroughly survey the site for any nesting birds. Any nests that are found will have an exclusion zone put around them and the teams will work around the area until the birds have finished breeding and vacated the nest.

• Read more about felling during bird nesting season

Replanting

Once the diseased larch has been removed, we will replant with native Broadleave in the affected areas. 

Timber haulage

Haulage vehicles will need to regularly access the woodlands to remove harvested timber from the site. For sites which are close to communities, there will be a maximum of eight lorry-loads a day. In built up areas there will also be a further restriction on this activity to hours outside early mornings and evening rush hours.

Why your views matter

As we prepare to undertake this essential operation, we want to make sure people are aware of the planned work, understand why it’s happening and how it might impact them.

More information  

We will provide regular updates on this page about the work as the operations progress.

Read our frequently asked questions about our Forest Operations