Man knew rules before felling trees, appeal hears

Jeff Lane is appealing his conviction after he was found guilty of illegally chopping down the equivalent of 12 football fields of protected woodland

A man who was convicted of felling more than two thousand trees had been warned he was breaking the rules on multiple occasions, an appeal has heard.

Jeff Lane is appealing a conviction from 29 March for clearing more than eight hectares of wet woodland on the Gower peninsula.

Damian Ward of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it was "absolutely clear" Mr Lane had gone beyond the initial licence application.

Mr Ward added the area cleared could have been sold for "just short of £14,000".

The parcel of land in 2015 before the tree felling took place

Giving evidence at Swansea Crown Court, Mr Ward, woodland officer for NRW, said the initial application allowed for the thinning of the trees.

He added that when woodland officers visited the land on June 2019 they "saw areas that had been cleared of trees and areas where you could see it because there were stumps".

A warning notice was issued shortly after to restore the site near Ilston.

The following year, in September 2020, photo evidence showed the equivalent of 12 football pitches of trees had been felled.

He added many had been damaged in a way that meant they could not be restored.

This aerial photo shows the same piece of land after trees were chopped down

Defence barrister, Mr David Leathley, suggested Mr Lane had been given misleading information, referring to an assertion that NRW had told him he was doing "a good job", when they visited the site.

In response, Mr Ward said "he's putting words into our mouths".

Asked whether NRW were right to chase the landowner rather than the contractor who carried out the work, Mr Ward said: "It's the landowner's responsibility to ensure that the work is carried out in accordance with the law."

The appeal continues.