Gretna

A wide load needed to be moved to a rural location so various roadside trees need to be pruned back, crown raised and felled to provide clearances for the load to be moved without any obstructions or delays.

We provided an initial survey of the route to identify any trees that had bat roosting potential and then worked closely alongside the tree clearance team to do climbed inspections of the trees that were noted for suitable bat roosting potential ahead of the trees being cut. Most trees were quickly confirmed as not roosting suitability and could cut from the start. Several trees just required a quick briefing to the team to put in some simple precautionary measures. However, we did identify an oak trees with 3 Pipistrelle bat presents. We were able to work around the bats without causing any offense or having any costly delays by removing a few small branches to get the necessary ground clearances by using hand saws from a MEWP to prevent causing any noise disturbance from chainsaws and without affecting the roost. The wide load was then able to be moved without any delays and the bat roost tree was hi-lighted to the haulage company to ensure they didn’t inadvertently impact the tree during transportation.

During the surveys we also identified a number of badger setts in the highways verge that might otherwise have been come damaged by the work vehicles and heavy machinery or any falling timber landing on the sett.

The small branches of the oak tree were cut so that the wide load could safely pass under the tree without impacting the wide load or the crown of the tree. The work was done by handsaw from a MEWP to prevent any disturbance to the bats and also to prevent any damage or change to the bat roosts which would otherwise have caused an offence.