The Ranger’s Blog has a great article posted up yesterday regarding the tricky question of whether the public have a legal right to collect firewood?
This is a subject that we’ve considered many times as we walk through the Island’s woodland seeing those neat little piles of freshly cut logs, whilst our wood store at home is diminishing.
In answer to the question, ” …. do members of the public have a legal right to collect firewood for personal use from common land …. ?” The Ranger’s summary is a clear “no”.
There is no general legal right to collect wood for any purpose. In simple terms, all wood belongs to somebody, normally the person who owns the tree it grew on. In English law, you can’t take it away without their permission.
However, reading on through the article, it appears that it might not be as simple as that, so if you’re someone who regularly helps themselves to fallen wood or cut logs, his article may well be worth a read beforehand.
Image: Mark Hillary
