Teucheen Woods | Inchinnan Development Trust

Tree Works & Management

Balancing community and conservation.

The Trust recently finalised our formal Woodland Management Plan for Teucheen Wood. Developed with the support of our community members, stakeholders and woodland management advisor, the plan outlines our long-term management aims and ambitions for our community woodland. The plans focuses on several key areas: community engagement, boundary management, enrichment of biodiversity, eradication of invasive non-native species, and monitoring of woodland health and wildlife - finding balance between improvements to Teucheen's woodland ecosystem and measures to ensure safety and accessibility.

The long-term vision for Teucheen Wood is to maintain a safe, biodiverse woodland environment to conserve and enhance local biodiversity while encouraging public engagement through responsible access. Protection of the woodland through conservation-focused management and operations combined with monitoring will ensure a healthy woodland structure while maintaining and enhancing species diversity.

The Trust, and the communities we represent, cherish our woodland and strive to explore the opportunities it provides for the local community while also encouraging community members to join our efforts to conserve, enhance, and celebrate the woodland and its wildlife.

Community engagement

Exploring the opportunities Teucheen Wood provides for local and wider communities through improved access (pathways and entrance points), woodland infrastructure, recreational, educational, and volunteer activities, and the creation of positive community relationships with the woodland

Boundary management

Managing the woodland edge in the interest of public safety and reduction of boundary conflict and encroachment along residential boundaries. Gaps left by boundary tree works will be utilised for supplementary planting to increase habitat availability and species diversity.

Improving biodiversity

Management actions will boost biodiversity within the woodland and improve woodland resilience (to the impacts of climate change, disease, human interference and adjacent land use) through an increase in tree species, age range, and structural diversity.

Wildlife surveying

Monitoring of flora and fauna present in the woodland (bird, butterfly, and botanical surveys and habitat condition monitoring) to better inform management decisions and conservation practises to ensure the health and function of the woodland ecosystem while identifying opportunities for improvement.

Controlling invasive species

Eradication of invasive non-native species (INNS) which can dominate areas of the woodland, outcompeting native species for essential resources - leading to a decline in biodiversity and overall function of the woodland ecosystem.

Woodland Safety
& Tree Works

Ensuring our community woodland remains safe for all is our top priority when it comes to managing Teucheen Wood. The Trust commissions a arboriculturalist to undertake a Visual Tree Inspection annually to assess trees along the woodland’s formal pathways and boundaries.

Teucheen Wood is also monitored as part of risk assessment procedures for community events (which occur regularly in the woodland through our volunteer and educational programmes). Ground level visual checks of the woodland are also conducted following extreme weather events such as storms or severe winds. If an identifiable and immediate hazard were recorded during these checks, emergency tree works would be arranged.

However, it is important to understand that woodlands are naturally complex and dynamic, and the absolute removal of risk from such an environment is not feasible. As such, all woodlands carry with them a certain level of risk to visitors and neighbours. It is essential that those accessing Teucheen Wood exercise caution and take reasonable care for their own personal safety during visits. While a tree assessment can identify trees which may present a hazard in the future and reduce risk through their management, it cannot account for residual risk and events such as extreme weather. Nature is inherently unpredictable, meaning no tree can be deemed completely risk free.

Works to woodland boundary trees

Teucheen Wood is protected as part of a wider Tree Preservation Order (TPO) and is designated a SINC (Site of Importance for Nature Conservation) by Renfrewshire Council. The entire woodland ecosystem plays a huge role in locking up carbon, including the living wood, roots, leaves, deadwood, surrounding soils and its associated vegetation.

Inchinnan Development Trust can not with good conscience undertake any works that are not beneficial to the woodland or those who access it. However, the Trust will not normally object to any application for works to overhanging trees on the basis that they have been professionally assessed, that permission is sought from the local authority and that works are conducted by suitably qualified personnel.

Residents with overhanging tree branches can address their issue at their own cost ensuring they follow the regulations and process set out by Renfrewshire Council:

Contact IDT for permission to access the woodland to undertake tree works (only if access is required)
Obtain a professional assessment (IDT use Merlin Tree Services - merlintreeservices@gmail.com / 07710452971)
Complete a planning application to Renfrewshire Council for tree works covered by Tree Preservation Order which can be done through www.eplanning.scot or via email dc@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Information on Renfrewshire Council's Tree Policy and the importance of Tree Preservation Orders can be found here.