hi all, an update as I've been gone awhile

[ratcatcher]

again hi all,

had some computer problems and lost info on all my favorite sites/passwords etc, some little scrot hacked my email address, anyway a lot's changed since my last visit here, you may remember I did a fair share of crayfish trapping, I then got into making mead (honey wine) and that in turn got me into beekeeping I now have three colonies of bees, two lots in my back garden and another one on a local allotment, I use both national hives and homemade top bar hives, which are a very good way to get into beekeeping cheaply, bees on a budget I call it
you can view my bees and hives on utube, just search for me, eastlondonbiker

a family member recently died, and although its a sad time, they left me a rather large sum of money, I've never been an investment type person, they last time I was left money around 10yrs ago (£35,000) I'd spent it all within a year on I don't know what
anyway this time I'm putting some away for a few years, some to spend on the house, some for me and the wife to treat ourselves with, she wants a new motorbike, I want new guns and chainsaw
but I'm also looking at buying some woodland in kent (around 7 acres)

now its early days yet, but as I would probably only get to the woods maybe one weekend every fortnight in the spring/summer months, and maybe less autumn/winter, my thoughts then turn to trespassers dog walkers/vandals/chav like scrots, getting up to mischief that they may or may not have used for years, as the now owners were never worried too much
my idea was to put a few beehives on the land, make an area for a fire pit camping area etc, and of course an old camo painted caravan, set up as somewhere to get out of bad weather should it rain whilst there, perhaps a homemade log burner to keep warm by and brew a kettle on.
so my next thought was to rent out cheap little sections to other beekeepers to house their bees on, as not everyone has a large enough garden or nice neighbours, as having more people visiting/using the woodland (trustworthy types) there would be less chance of anything untoward going on there, that lead me to think of shooters/hunters as well as the wood comes with full shooting rights, and then today I thought, ohh bushcraft types too
does anyone see any flaws in these ideas, everyone would be given a permission type letter with my name/address/phone number, as a producer if anyone was asked what they were doing there, each set of people/hobbies would phone me beforehand to book in dates etc, and could then be told if others were there etc
not looking at making this into a business, but more a woodland protection group, and off course from time to time work parties could be organized for felling trees and other stuff, fence erecting etc

what does anyone think???

 

[Everything Mac]

Sounds good to me mate. I'm going to have to check out your beehive videos when I get back ashore.

All the best
Andy

 

[TurboGirl]

That sounds a wonderful idea, huuuuge good luck with it! If I had a woodland, I'd be persuading my freindly local work party to help me erect a cobhouse.... although that and the caravan shelter could attract the needle using scrotes :S Maybe better after a few years when the woodland itself is stabilised if its not had much loving and you've got a good feel for/ 'detered' any damaging elements Is local shooting a possibility? Or if you want to turn it to an income-producer, with tipis, yurts and glamping?

 

[Dreadhead]

great idea diversifiying the woodland hope it works out for you. with enough regular activity you could always install a few hidden cams just incase anything awry does happen

 

[Shewie]

Sounds like a good plan to me, it would be worth speaking to somebody about liability insurance before you get too far into the planning. Just in case they through a spanner in the works

 

[nuggets]

Sounds like a good plan to me, it would be worth speaking to somebody about liability insurance before you get too far into the planning. Just in case they through a spanner in the works

If you get a signed disclaimer from `anyone ` that uses the land , then liability is not a - your - concern! also a few signs put up warning of HSE peeps will be shot on site ,should deter the ambulance chasing solicitor type`s

 

[ratcatcher]

like these type of signs you mean

 

[Mesquite]

If you get a signed disclaimer from `anyone ` that uses the land , then liability is not a - your - concern! also a few signs put up warning of HSE peeps will be shot on site ,should deter the ambulance chasing solicitor type`s

It wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on.

In law you can't sign away liability so if they have an accident on site and it can be proved it clearly wasn't their fault you can bet your 'ambulance chasing solicitor type' would still come after the owner.

 

[nuggets]

not true my friend , If i have a signed waiver from mr A disclaiming any legal liability to him or his property while he is on `my` property ,then its there in black and white !!!! a contract is a contract , he signed away his legal rights in a disclaimer ............ How can any solicitor argue he didn,t ??????

 

[Mesquite]

not true my friend , If i have a signed waiver from mr A disclaiming any legal liability to him or his property while he is on `my` property ,then its there in black and white !!!! a contract is a contract , he signed away his legal rights in a disclaimer ............ How can any solicitor argue he didn,t ??????

Because by law the landowner still has a duty of care to all people using his land.

Just because there's a signed disclaimer doesn't necessarily guarantee it's valid. There can be any number of other legal arguments a solicitor could sue under and have it declared void.

 

[nuggets]

which are ???

 

[ratcatcher]

look, lets not argue about this law stuff now, if anyone has a serious injury, it says on my firearms certification that I can humanely dispatch any animal to stop suffering, so the only thing to argue about is, who digs the hole

 

[stuey]

It would be wholly un advisable to not have liability insurance for your woodland or land.
The Occupiers Liability Acts (1957) (1984) are quite clear about your responsibilities as a land owner and detail your duty of care to trespassers and invited visitors alike. Clearly trespassers will not be signing your disclaimer (which as other posters have pointed out are generally a waste of paper anyway) and somewhat irritatingly your duty of care must, by law, extend to them.
Sounds like a fantastic plan though.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[PeterH]

which are ???

Well we could start with Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977

2 Negligence liability.

(1)A person cannot by reference to any contract term or to a notice given to persons generally or to particular persons exclude or restrict his liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence.

(2)In the case of other loss or damage, a person cannot so exclude or restrict his liability for negligence except in so far as the term or notice satisfies the requirement of reasonableness.

(3)Where a contract term or notice purports to exclude or restrict liability for negligence a person’s agreement to or awareness of it is not of itself to be taken as indicating his voluntary acceptance of any risk.

And then there is Occupiers Liability Act 1984

And then .... and then ....

 

[udamiano]

You cannot sign away your legal rights, they are entombed in your basic rights and cannot be taken away. You can set up a contract (disclaimer) to say that one party won't, in case of an accident where no negligence is shown take the landowner to court! But if negligence IS shown then any piece of paper you have to say they wont take you to court is worthless. A disclaimer only protects you from actions that resulted and was shown not to be your fault, or assigned the fault of anyone under your employ, or that reasonable measures were in place at the time of the incident.
Basically it protects you from someone taking a dive and blaming you and trying exhort money from you through the courts.

If I was you, and this is advice from someone who has running courses on a big chunk of land

1) Insurance to cover yourself and the land I have both private and public liability insurance.
2) Prevention is better! spend the first part of the courses going over health and safety, and safe use of the site and equipment. Now it is a good idea to have this written down, give your customer a copy, and ask them to sign to say they have read it and agree to follow it, this is simple health and safety. Most large commercial site do this before your allowed on site, and require you to it again every year or so.
3) Have a good medical kit on site, and the certificates to use it, keep them up to date, and check the contents of your kit regularly.
4) Have a risk assessment for the activities that are being done on site.

but basically be safe

If you want to chat about liability, or running a commercial site PM me and ill try to answer your questions if I can

 

[Stringmaker]

Great idea and good to you for wanting to encourage use of the woodland.

But............there are a heap of planning rules (surprise) about what you can put on the land, what you do with it, how may days you can stay overnight and so on.

http://www.woods4sale.co.uk/planning_legislation.htm

 

[ratcatcher]

thanks for all the info, but I think people may have read more into it,
I am not, nor was I ever going to be offering courses of any description, merely give permission as a woodland owner for others to use the land, can't be that much different from an allotment group offering allotments to locals, so I'll ask the committee on the allotment where I house my bees
offering a section of land for someone to house hives on
offering land for shooters to shoot on, I already shoot land on a farm myself, I have my own public liability insurance for that, he does not have an area with first aid kit on etc,
offering an area for those who enjoy bushcraft to "do their own thing on" not under any direction from me
I would have my own insurance, and anyone coming on my land would need to prove the same
commercial to me says making money from it, this was not my intention,

as for planning rules, not for caravans there isn't, over 5 acres and you can place up to 3 mobile homes on land without needing to ask anyone, I too have read all the rules
doubt the beekeepers would want to camp
shooters might lamp, but they would not camp
bushcrafters would want to camp, but if we bend the rules ever so slightly, the 28 day rule does not apply to trespassers,

 

[stuey]

As a woodland owner you would still be advised to have liability cover for your land irrespective of what you do with it.
That way, in the unlikely event that a trespasser is injured or killed or a visitor or footpath user (assuming public rights of way exist otherwise trespasser) is injured or killed you are covered and not faced with a hefty bill. If your woodland fronts a public highway you would be really silly not to have liability insurance and also should have your trees within falling of the highway inspected by someone competent no less than once every 5 years (Circular 52/75 highways act).



Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[Elen Sentier]

This sounds good to me, hope you manage it. I don't know Essex but would love to come over and camp. I like bees, eat fresh killed rabbit and good pigeon although I don't shoot. Good luck with it ... but the insurance sounds a good idea, there's always some twit who is out for a buck!

 

[nuggets]

a don,t know ..........whats this country coming too !!! Cater for the trespassers legal bills !!! Just put up lots of signs saying private , permission holders only !!! Then if and when A trespasser sues you !!!!!! you will be covered



just get a signed copy from anyone you let to use your land saying they do so at there own risk and you will not be held responsible in way shape or form for any accidents or injuries while on your land !!

sorted ............