Landowner who cut down protected woodland fined

Jeff Lane was found guilty of illegally chopping down the equivalent of 12 football fields of protected woodland

A landowner who benefited from chopping down a protected woodland has been fined £1,500 and handed an £11,280 confiscation order.

Jeff Lane, 73, caused a "devastating loss" to the environment by the illegal felling of 2,000 trees in 2019 on more than eight hectares (20 acres) on Gower, Swansea.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the estimated cost of restocking the native and wet woodland on Old Forge Farm in Fairwood was £52,000.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) called it the worst case of illegal tree felling it had seen in 30 years.

Lane, from Lower Fairwood, was found guilty in 2022 of felling trees without a licence and failing to comply with a notice to restock the trees he chopped down.

He later lost his appeal against both convictions.

The first proceeds of crime hearing in relation to the illegal tree felling heard the total value of benefit to him was £78,614.

The retired mechanic bought the land in 2017 for his daughter to run a pony trekking and alpaca walking business.

He claimed the trees were rotting and dangerous. He was given a licence to thin them out but not chop down the entire woodland.

The protected woodland in 2015, before the felling took place

The same woodland after trees were cut down

NRW officers were given photos taken by the Gower Society in September 2020 showing an area of wiped out trees.

David Singh, defending, said Lane had no previous convictions and was suffering from poor health.

"He is unable to pay his mortgage and after paying his car loan and daily living costs he is left with virtually nothing," he said.

Judge Richard Kember said Lane was guilty of "criminal conduct" and had gained pecuniary advantage by not complying with the enforcement notice to restock the woodland.

"It wouldn’t be going too far to say the woodland has been effectively eradicated.

"You were given a thinning licence designed to encourage the habitat to flourish and grow. It is for a reduction, not an eradication.

"This was a blatant exceeding of the permission you had been granted."