Planning for Removing 2 Acre Forest and Putting 4 Sites on Land

Dats_rite

Hi All,

There is a 2 acre forest that butts onto my house and garden. Forest is a sycamore forest and been in place about 25 years. The 2 acre piece of land has come on the market and I was wondering what are the chances of someone buying the 2 acres, cutting the trees down and putting 3 or 4 sites on the land?

The land is in Donegal and i was just wondering what are the chances of the purchaser being able to get planning to cut the forest down and turn the land into residential sites.

The forest is a great wind breaker for our house and our kids love playing in it so we would love for it to stay but unfortunately cant afford to buy the land.

If anyone could enlighten me into how likely that planning would be granted on this i would appreciate it.

Thanks

bemak

zero chance. hard enough to remove one tree these days let alone 2 acres of them

muffler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058210139/planning-for-removing-2-acre-forest-and-putting-4-sites-on-land

If its a forested area its most likely located in a rural setting. That being the case then it would be difficult to get permission for multiple houses. Subject to other factors (roads, sewage treatment/disposal etc etc) it may be possible to get permission for 1 or maybe 2 houses.

Does it have road frontage? What type of trees ... hardwoods such as oak sycamore etc or just pine/spruce?

Dats_rite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117932994#Comment_117932994

The trees are Sycamore and it has good road frontage. As per picture below I've highlighted the 2 acres of forest. As you can see it would be very easy to split into 4 half acre sites and get easy access off the road.

I suppose the question is then if you cant get sites on it are people bidding on it for the hardwood timber? If so how hard is it to get a felling licence to fell this?

muffler

It certainly looks to be an ideal candidate for development but like any piece of ground the planners will have the final say on it. Not many people look for a felling licence and even if they did they would be allowed to cut down so many trees. If the land was subject to a planning application then the planners most likely will look for a number of trees to be retained.

Planning has been granted in the past for forested areas so most likely anyone bidding has that in mind. The ground would be more valuable as building sites as opposed to forestry/agricultural use.

The only way to guarantee no develepment is to buy it really. Also the new owner could cut off your access to the wood. Sycamore is a non native species. If your site is on the edge of a village it wouldn’t have any special status for biodiversity as an oak wood would. In Clarinbridge in Galway they’ve built house in the woods on the edge of the village. The wood is visible from the road and the houses are tucked in to the wood. No big lawns but quite private houses within walking distance of the village.