Projects

The planting season started with a new woodland of 3 hectares in Dorset, we planted 3000 trees on a steep hillside. This new woodland planting forms part of a management plan that we have been working on with the client, and is largely funded by the Forestry Commission.

A team of Knighton Countryside Management staff have been based in Brecon since October carrying out Dormouse habitat enhancement works along a pipeline route. The works have involved mainly hedge laying and coppicing and include 3600m of stock fencing to date. The conditions have ranged from very wet to very cold and snowy!

In conjunction with Aspect Ecology we have undertaken a badger set closure for a supermarket development in Somerset. The project started with the installation of badger fencing around the sett including one way gates. Once the sett was successfully evacuated we returned to excavate the sett and level the site and have now covered the area completely with chain link fencing to ensure that the area is not re-colonised before the building works commence. All of the above works were carried out in conjunction with Aspect Ecology and under the supervision of their Ecologists.

This project started with the excavation of the proposed pond site and construction of an island which was dry stone walled. The pond was lined with 160 tonnes of clay. The team worked through the wettest conditions and produced a very neat and tidy pond which was soon full of water.

September 2009 saw the purchase of our new forestry flail which was invaluable in this gorse clearance project on the steep banks at Chitcombe in Dorset. The new flail can cut up to 7 inch material and is a valuable addition to our fleet alongside our crawler tractor and smaller flail.

A team of KCM employees carried out a badger sett closure and re-instatement works at a school in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in conjunction with Jacobs. This was a complicated project involving a very large badger set which undermined the grounds of a school and neighbouring gardens. KCM covered the whole area with chain link fencing and installed one way gates to allow the evacuation of the badgers. Once the set was badger free we carefully excavated the whole area and had a considerable job to reinstate the area including a steep bank, several gardens, including close board fencing, concrete paths, green houses and sheds, seeding and planting

We had the very responsible job of dismantling an extremely large lime tree which was overhanging a number of luxury park homes at a country park near Poole in Dorset. The operations required a very large crane and a mobile elevated work platform to cut the tree in to sections and lower the branches safely to the ground.

We constructed a new bridge for one of our clients across the river Frome at Cruxton in Dorset. The bridge was built to our own design from Douglas Fir which was felled in Dorset, and the timber was milled by our own saw mill. Our saw mill is fully mobile and can be used on any site to convert timber to your requirements. Please contact us for more information.

We installed a screen fence as part of the site preparation for the Weymouth Relief Road.

The purpose of this was to reduce disturbance to the Lodmoor Reserve when work started and to provide a protective barrier for the SSSI wildlife which includes the rare Cetti’s Warbler.

Knighton Countryside is continually growing and our fleet of vehicles and machinery has outgrown its current base at Waddock Yard where it has been based for nearly 10 years. The new yard at Piddlehinton is close to the A35 and is accessible for large vehicles and deliveries. We now have a larger office to accommodate our staff as well as more storage and space for vehicles.

One of the final components of the site preparation process, destructive searching is undertaken prior to main development work commencing.

Completed under ecological supervision, it serves two purposes: firstly to allow the catching and translocation of any last remaining inhabitants, and secondly it renders the site barren of any attractive habitat, so reducing the chance of re-colonisation by any species

National Grid has begun a major upgrade to its infrastructure in Hampshire - this includes the Bramley Electrical Sub Station. Set within an Ancient Semi Natural Woodland, the surrounding site is home to a number of protected species.

KCM has been following a major programme of ecological mitigation works. Most recently we have been relocating Hazel Coppice away from the perimiter area, with the aid of a Tree Spade.

The new site is linked to the remaining perimeter coppice by existing woodland - so creating a safe corridor for the wildlife to migrate along once development work starts.

A regular feature of our newsletters has been drawing attention to the necessity for all landowners to undertake regular tree inspections. KCM has been doing this for a number of clients, in the form of Tree Risk Assessments, and advising on necessary monitoring and works.

Dangerous trees are a major hazard and it can be surprising just how damaged a tree, that outwardly appears healthy, can be: The tree pictured above, barely supporting itself, was next to a main road...

To date the Highways ditch beneath the cooling towers of Didcot Power Station has proved to be a comfortable home for water voles. However this is set to change with the planned creation of Great Western Park (a new housing, leisure and amenity complex).

KCM has implemented the mitigation strategy, based on the Natural England Guidelines, that was designed to minimise any impact on the water voles and safely relocate them.

The development area was fenced off with specialised water vole fencing. Once the water voles had been caught and moved to custom created release pens, the entire development area was covered in ground mesh to prevent any re-establishment by the water voles.

RNLI Lifeguard Tower - Spring 2007 The RNLI Lifeguards of Bournemouth Beach are on the lookout for more Towers - 2 different prototypes have been built, and a regular client asked KCM to mill the timber for the support structure.

The results speak for themselves!

The Knighton Countryside Management sawmill has been working overtime recently, producing the timber for a number of major projects as well as a multitude of smaller orders.

Western Red Cedar has been milled as Waney Edge Boarding to clad several different locations - from houses, to walkways and store-rooms.

We have also been producing Green Oak for a number of clients - one piece for a barn conversion requiring a 12inch by 18inch beam 6 metres long...

Over the 2005/2006 Winter we have installed various bird and bat boxes.

The Pipistrelle Bats of Portsmouth now have a new home in the form of a Heated Bat Box. Knighton Countryside Management installed the box at the Queen Alexandra Hospital as renovation and development work continues.

As part of the ecological re-instatement following the completion of the Fordingbridge Flood Defence Scheme, we installed 100 Schwegler bird boxes and bat boxes throughout Fordingbridge.

Following last season's continued clearance of Oakers Wood, English Nature has installed various bird & bat boxes in the wood.