Forest Road Construction

Forest Roads

Before the commencement of any thinning/harvesting operations can take place on your plantation, it is necessary to construct a harvesting road to extract timber. A well constructed forest road will add value to your forestry plantation and reduce maintenance costs in the long term.

A Forest road application can only be made on your behalf if:

• The plantation must be within 3 years of harvesting or within 5 years if being built as part of a co-operative road building application.
• In order to be eligible for a road grant, 50% or greater of the forest must be thinned within three years of receiving the 1st instalment grant. Otherwise only the area within that timeframe is eligible.

Cost & Grants

The grant aid for a Forest road from the forest service is up to 25 metres per ha at a rate of €40 per linear metre. Special construction works may be funded on environmentally sensitive sites up to a maximum of €5,000 per application or 50% of costs, whichever is the lower.

Benefits

• Well designed and built Forest roads add value to your plantation by increasing timber income and reduce maintenance costs
• Well designed and built forest roads improves efficiency of timber harvesting and haulage
• Forest roads also provide additional biodiversity opportunities by increasing the amount of open space, forest edges and facilitating thinning which can open up the canopy.
• Increased light levels on the forest floor contribute to the development and enhancement of ground floor native plants.  

Planning Permission

As part of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2011 (Section 17) stipulates that the creation of an access from forest road to a public road must be approved by the relevant Planning Authority. Application under the Forest Road Scheme must be accompanied by:

• Written confirmation from the local authority certifying that the development does not require planning permission: or
• Confirmation that planning permission has been obtained, a copy of which must be submitted with the application: or
• Evidence of application for planning permission e.g. planning application number from the local authority that an application has been submitted.

Axe Forestry will apply for planning permission on your behalf. We do this as part of the overall package where we assess and measure your timber quantity and quality and agree a lump sum price, which will be paid to you for the timber log that comes from your thinning. We then apply to the forest service for a Felling License, Forest road grant approval and we also apply to the local County Council for planning permission.

There is no cash outlay by you the forest owner. We take care of the whole process.

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