what would be your view??

[Dexter's Shed]

all the plots within our woodland have now been sold, and we are slowly getting a little co-op of owners together including a facebook group only for owners, so we can chat between ourselves, leave info etc

on earlier visits to the woods, we came into contact with a local shooter, who has permission to shoot on the farmers fields in front of the woods, he was also the game keeper, when the woods were owned by one person and ran as a pheasant shoot, now in the past he drove into the woodlands as though he owned the place, saying that he had been employed by the sales agent to keep the rides clear, and that he had permission to shoot on one or two plots, but a couple of weeks ago, when we were told that all plots had been sold, and that the sales agent had no more interest in our woods, we also learnt from our co-op, that 10 out of the 13 plot holders had not given him any permission, and that the areas he had indicated earlier, were within those owners not having gave permission (we are awaiting confirmation on the other 3 plots)

now we were at the woods on Saturday gone, when he strolls in bold as brass, open shotgun over his arm and calls out to us from the ride (saw my 4x4 parked up) and then as we yelled out (as we couldn't see who was calling) he strolled in, across our bridge and into our woods by a few yards

he started off the usual patter by dropping the sales agents name in, and saying he was working on his behalf, he soon changed track when I commented on the sales agent no longer having any control within our woods, he then started on again, about a few plots he does have permission on about 1/4 of a mile away, and their free bottle of booze that they receive yearly, 10 out of our 13 plots see this as a real pi$$ take, as they say, after having shelled out 50k plus for plots, this guys wants not only to walk around freely as if lord of the manor, but to also put pheasant pens and feeders down, and run monthly pheasant shoots, bringing in parties of shooters, beaters and dogs, and earn a nice little wedge, whilst it only costs him a few bottles of duty free.

so on this occasion, the fact that he was committing armed trespass in the eyes of the law I ignored, I will however be making up some signs to place on our entrance, outlining the armed trespass rules.

having given all this info to the co-op, theres a few different views on what we should do next
one of our plot holders is ex armed police, and wants to send a few of his work colleges to have a quite word in his ear
Im thinking we should get in touch with the sales agent, gather some information, and e mail the shooter, outlining the now changed conditions, being a holder of a shotgun certificate will mean he knows the law, but maybe we should just let him know to keep out in future

your views???

[Dexter's Shed]

have just received conformation from the sales agent that he was employed by them to keep the rides clear, and that he was given permission to shoot on all un sold plots, so even though we have been told that all the plots have sold, until the monies are finalised on two plots, that he still has permission on those, I think thats a little bad on their part, not to inform us on this at the start, but to wait until asked

[SimonFisher]

If it were me and my wood, I'd write to him formally as the land owner stating that he has no permission to be on the piece of land and that you require him to keep out. I'd suggest that all of the other plot owners do the same.
If I had the offer of the police visiting him, I'd take that up. Surely he must be aware that armed tresspass is a criminal offence and if he continues to disregard the fact that he does not have permission to be there he could end up in serious trouble!

[Dexter's Shed]

my thoughts too simon, the sales agent is being very coy about it, he has not forwarded any contact information for the shooter, even though he claims that they did indeed employ him, and is saying that he still has permission to shoot on two plots until the sale is finalised, which can only be a matter of days/weeks at most

I feel at this moment in time, all we can do is wait until we receive details of all plot holders, meaning that all sales are complete, then erect a few signs, and if he is seen again, explain the new situation

[oldclaypaws]

I think you should see this as a transitional phase which will be behind you in a few weeks. Sounds as if he currently has permission to be in some areas, but has probably not paid too much attention to the new boundaries. The rides are probably a grey area as the other plots will maybe have shared access rights over them. Once all the woods are in new ownership and the finances are completed he is unlikely to be welcome or have any right to be there at all, and at that point he can be officially told to keep out or risk being reported to the authorities.

Its not uncommon for new owners to retain the services of established gamekeepers, but clearly thats not going to happen in this case. I'd be polite but clear to him that his right to be there shooting will expire after the final sales so that he's in no doubt where he stands.

[TerryH]

Hi,
As you know I had a tentative look at your wood back when it was up for sale and funnily enough, while we were walking around, an elderly (well, elderly to me in my mid-40s here) chap pulled up on one of the rides in his green landrover and asked us what we thought and were we going to buy it and explained that he was some sort of grounds keeper who kept the rides clear and he was quite quick to mention the annual pheasant shooting thing and the handing out of bottles of whiskey etc as recompense. I remember that he joked that the pheasants must be the most expensive anyone could get due to the amount of feed that gets put out for them. Does that sound like him perhaps ?

I didn't think much of it at the time, but when we purchased our little wood a bit later I was keen to establish who had sporting/shooting rights in it and found our vendor to be a bit evasive about that. When pressed further by our solicitor they admitted that in the past they had granted permission to someone to do shooting in our wood (plenty of old shotgun cartridges to be found still) so we made sure that the shooting rights were transferred to us with the sale and were mentioned in the deeds etc

I'm guessing you probably did the same so really you should be the only one with that right in your own wood and he shouldn't be on your plot with gun in hand. Walking onto it for a chat maybe an minor annoyance (just ignore him?) but I'd be really upset about the gun thing so perhaps ask the agents to have a word with him.. that you and the other plot holders are not happy about it.
Have you and the other plot holders come to any arrangement about the ride maintenance/clearing process since he is on the way out there ?

[Dexter's Shed]

hi Terry, yes that's the fella, you described him to a T
yes each plot has been sold with shooting rights included, seems he only had permission to shoot on each plot whilst they were for sale, it was very bad of the sales agent to not keep us more informed, and earlier last year, they tried getting another 1k from each plot holder (4 of us) plus the farmer and the seller, a total of 6k, to re scalp the road in, when I enquired if the shooter would also be contributing 1k, I was told that he never used that road, yet I have kept e mails, now stating he worked for them on the rides and shooting, so very evasive about things that were really our concern

thankfully now that most plots have names to them, we are just waiting on 3 more that have been sold but not finalised, and until then they wont give details out, the rest of us have formed a group via the internet so we can chat when not at the woods, a work party has been sorted for this year, when it stops raining, we have access to scalpings, mini digger, bobcat etc, so will be doing a weekend of road repairs

[oldclaypaws]

Apart from the issue of the unwanted shooter, the way that you now know the other plotholders and there will be up to 13 of you in communication as a little community is rather nice. (provided Mr nuisance Shooter doesn't buy one of the last plots!)

I'm moderately happy with my stand-alone solitude being a little self contained wood surrounded by fields, but interested to meet other local wood owners and share advice and experiences. That's not so easy- I keep in touch with a gamekeeper / woodland owner who showed me round one wood I viewed, although as he's a keen shooter / serial killer (anything that moves) so we are coming from different directions. I'm also pally with the Chair & hubby of our local wildlife group who are a charming, knowledgeable and helpful couple with 48 acres to tend to. However, our local 'wood association' which I joined isn't really socially active apart from an excellent annual 'wood fair'. Might join the Dorset Coppice group as I'm close to the border, they seem more active- but provided everyone sings from the same song sheet, having woody neighbours cooperating sounds a good set up Dexter.

Obviously the Forum here is a great way to exchange views and feel part of an online 'community', although I doubt we'll ever all sit round a camp fire together, we are an Archipelago of little woody Islands (More so in Somerset, where we are turning into real watery Islands!) .....

[Dexter's Shed]

yes, your right OCP, it's nice that all the plot holders have similar views, all bought their woods for much the same reason, to have fun playing at woodland management, and a stress free area to relax, some as an inheritance for grand kids etc, I suspect a few are for tax purposes, but they still have the same mind set as the rest of us, although its around 13 plots, its less people, as some have bought more than the one plot, and although most of the owners that I have met are gun owners, as yet shooting has not been high on the "to do" list, I'm quite amazed that I as a full time pestie, have not shot anything yet and its nearly a year of ownership, maybe its just when at work, I'm getting paid to solve someone's pest problem, yet in our woods, nothing is really a problem, barring those peskie squirrels pinching the bird food/nuts.
Out of all the owners, we have become very good friends with an owner a couple of plots away, and its nice that everyone is willing to help each other, should the need arise,
on chatting to the shooter, I had to chuckle, as he remarked that he had been talking to the local farmer, who had asked him if he knew what the intensions were of all those "tree huggers" that had bought plots

[Brown]

My wood is also a small part of a greater forest with other small woodland owners in it. I found the agents were slightly economical with the truth when it came to ownership of fencing, public rights of way etc. The local farmer confuses things by claiming he has rights of way across certain tracks and that I'm responsible for fencing between our boundaries. In the end you're not sure who to believe.
While I haven't the problems you've had, thank God, I have felt a slight resentment and suspicion from the local populace. I think this is because they consider the Forest as part of their environment and therefore a place they were able to freely explore/exploit before it fell into private ownership. They see us as an absent Land Lord in a way. The fact is they will have to get used to us being here.
I wouldn't necessarily object if they wanted to come and shoot, as there is a resident Fallow Deer population that has a go at my young trees. However, I would want them to seek permission before doing so. Perhaps you could have a similar system with your shot gun owner. i.e swap mobiles etc.
I would be careful about putting up signs as they can have a tendency to rub people up the wrong way.
I have a public right of way in my woods and have absolutely no problem with people having a wander around as long as that's all they do. I've also been told that there are people who have for decades ridden their horses through the woods. Even though there are no bridle paths, they clearly see this as their right. Again I don't have a problem as long as they respect my woods and don't disrupt what I'm trying to do.
In short, try to keep the locals on side but don't let them take the piss!