3.5 acre field, 1 acre of trees, advice!

schmittel wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 3.5 acre field next to a dual carriageway N road. Approx 2.5 acres of it are in grass and 1 acre tapers off alongside and is covered in trees, Macracarpa, Leylandii, nothing special, probably 30-40 years old, they grew up randomly rather than planted.

The trees are currently providing a very effective sound barrier from the round noise to three houses and one house in particular.

What I wondering is could the three houses prevent me if I try and get permission to remove the trees to put the rest of the field into grass? They would definitely make a lot of trouble if I started removing trees but does anyone have any experience of this in reality? i.e how effective could they be?

Don't mind them, cut them, thin them out slowly then one day pull the rest out, they wont know what happened.

schmittel wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 3.5 acre field next to a dual carriageway N road. Approx 2.5 acres of it are in grass and 1 acre tapers off alongside and is covered in trees, Macracarpa, Leylandii, nothing special, probably 30-40 years old, they grew up randomly rather than planted.

These are non-native invasive species with little ecological value so removing them should be ok since obviously none of these trees are subject to preservation orders, land designations etc.

If you want to cut them, then cut them it's your land isn't it.

schmittel wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 3.5 acre field next to a dual carriageway N road. Approx 2.5 acres of it are in grass and 1 acre tapers off alongside the road and is covered in trees, Macracarpa, Leylandii, nothing special, probably 30-40 years old, they grew up randomly rather than planted.

The trees are currently providing a very effective sound barrier from the road noise to three houses and one house in particular. What I wondering is could the three houses prevent me if I try and get permission to remove the trees to put the rest of the field into grass? They would definitely make a lot of trouble if I started removing trees but does anyone have any experience of this in reality? i.e how effective could they be?

With the species you mention I doubt that they 'grew up randomly' and not planted. Both species are non native and are nearly always planted. Macrocarpa were very popular as roadside planting a since the 1930's/1940's though Leylandii really only started to be planted in large number from the 1970's onwards. Many of the trees that came down in the recent storms were in fact large macrocarpa.

The trees were most likly planted to to provide a shelter belt for the field.
When were the houses built? The first problem I see is that in such a public location you may not have any option but to seek a felling licence, failure to do so and the local cc could implement a replanting obligation especially if they get complaints - see

http://www.teagasc.ie/forestry/advice/felling_licences.asp

You might get away with a limited felling licence which includes - Clearfelling
- Removal of individual trees on the farm
- Site development. But it may still attract a replanting requirement.

The current law as it is states that a licence to remove trees is required and that it is illegal to uproot any tree over ten years old or to cut down any tree of any age (including trees which form part of a hedgerow), unless a Felling Notice has been lodged at the Garda Station nearest to the trees at least 21 days before felling commences.
Now obviously if no one knows the tree or it's in a remote location then you are less likley to get complaints etc

I would maybe talk to a someone in the cc before going ahead / you can always just make a general inquiry about tree cutting - don't mention specifics etc

One thing I would consider is the shelter belt value of these trees at present. I have a field that borders a similar type road and in the areas without shelter the grass tends to suffer wind burn and definitely does not do as well as the the sheltered parts.