Looking for woodland to rent coppice near maldon essex

[woodpecker975]

Hi I am looking for a woodland to coppice. I sell logs and looking for a supply of wood. I am near maldon Essex . I am fairly new to this and any advice from anyone would be greatly received.

[oldclaypaws]

I'm not sure that people necessarily pay to coppice other peoples woods. As its beneficial for the wood, I'd have thought if you could find a neglected one in the area (and they do exist, according to FC statistics), an owner should be happy for you to coppice it for free, perhaps in return for a token payment of a cord of wood or two from you to them.

I believe our nearby council owned wood is used by local colleges to coppice, both to teach forestry skills and maintain the wood. No money changes hands. A previous guy coppiced it paying a peppercorn rent of maybe £5 a year.

A friend of mine rents a 5 acre wood where he does archaeological experimental re-enactment activities and various themed open days. Again, no money changes hands, he 'pays' for its use by cutting firewood for the owner. All very civilised.

[oldclaypaws]

Your local council might be a good place to start. They often own small patches of woodland and don't have the funds or staff to do much in them. As they'd effectively be employing you, they'd probably want to ensure you had the relevant experience or qualifications before letting you loose in their woods, so you may need to take some training like chainsaw certification. If you can also read a couple of coppicing books or go on some courses and convince the relevant council estates person that you are knowledgeable, they might well accept an approach.

Thirty years ago when I was a woodland campaigner, a Council in Bucks offered me a 40 acre wood if I wanted to coppice and maintain it, but I declined as it was next to a huge troubled estate with a lot of dumping and various mischief going on in it.

I've 2 large council woodlands close to me now. Their management is ad hoc, there's no continuous programme of work there and they've rather been let go (they also used to own mine). I've a good relationship with them as I'm effectively enacting the management plan they always intended for my wood of thinning the big trees, restoring the coppice and a degree of enrichment planting. Far from having to pay for this, they've had money out of me to buy it, so we're all best of friends and are glad to see what I'm doing. In time when I've licked mine into shape, if I have the energy I might ask if they want a hand in their 75 acres, pretty much on the same basis as you're looking for.

If you have the genuine enthusiasm, knowledge and build local contacts by networking, opportunities often present themselves in time.

[woodpecker975]

Thank you for your responses. They they have been most helpful