Ploughing up peat for trees?
A tree plantation at Coulshill farm near Auchterarder has been accused of planting trees on peat greater than 50cm in depth, which is against Government rules for new forestry.
Local residents and a former farm worker have taken pictures of the ground preparations apparently showing disturbance of deep peat. The farm was sold to investors who are establishing a 1000 hectare woodland project with a mix of commercial forestry, native broadleaves and ungrazed nature conservation.
Catriona Margaret, who worked on the farm, said: “I have family at Auchterarder and I was working at Coulshill this spring at lambing. I have been up round the hills many times when they were filled with 600 Blackies and Cheviots but it is a bit of a change since then. The whole way up is deer fenced now, all the way out to the glen. They have not left many gates – you walk in but can’t get to the other side. Some of the fences are slack as people have attempted to climb over the top as there was no gate in place.
“They have ploughed through everything, there will be sections where the peat is deep, at least a couple of feet, and the contractors have gone through the whole thing,” said Ms Margaret. “It doesn’t seem like they have checked. There are sections where the peat is only a couple of inches deep but others where it is much deeper, a couple of feet. It is almost like they are rushing to get it done, I don’t know if it is because the subsidy is coming to an end. They seem to be firing on without really caring how they are doing it. It is quite sad when you drive up there and there is just a small number of stock compared to what used to be.
aymond Henderson of Bidwells, who acts on behalf of the farm’s owners, said: “We do not know of any significant areas of peat over 50cm in depth which have been ground prepared and planted, but if there is any evidence to the contrary would much appreciate seeing it in order to rectify the matter if there is found to be a problem. All involved with delivering this project are committed to doing so to a high standard and within the spirit and letter of the Woodland Grant Scheme contract, which was agreed following over two years of open consultation and survey work.
“We spent in excess of two years going through the planting approval process for this” which involved soil Rsurveys and peat depth surveys which were pretty exhaustive,” he insisted. “Some of the areas which were identified in the survey were kept out of the planting plan. You are not going to be able to survey every square metre of the farm but we are confident there are no substantial areas beyond what the contract allows for. If there are small areas of peat deeper than 50cms then those areas are identified and the mounds are turned back into the soil and no trees are planted. So far we have not come across any areas and I am confident there are none of any size. But if there are, we are committed to putting it right.
“We are improving public access,” he added. “There are planned areas for retained public access for gates and loads of tracks to improve the situation for people walking.
“I am personally disappointed that if people think there is a problem they don’t speak to us, or the manager or Scottish Forestry who handle the grants and approvals. Raise any concern with us or them and we will deal with it. But it is not the Flow Country – this is an area with mineral soils with a peat overlay and some limited areas where there are deeper peats.”