The north of England based Roots to Prosperity forestry initiative has welcomed the announcement from Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that the £1 million fund announced in the March 2015 budget to support forestry development projects will be officially launched this year. In his March statement the Chancellor cited Roots to Prosperity as a good example of cross sector working and a means to create new jobs in rural areas.
In particular, Roots to Prosperity has welcomed the introduction of a new Woodland Creation Planning Grant which has opened recently and is administered by the Forestry Commission. It offers landowners a grant of £150/ha for creating a sustainable forest design plan for a new woodland over 30ha in size, of which 70% should be productive woodland.
Extra funding is available for more specialist support, such as protected species surveys and flood risk assessments. It is anticipated that this will cover 70% of total costs, up to a total of £30,000.
Oliver Combe, who headed up the Roots to Prosperity (R2P) scheme in the North of England, said: "R2P has been a great success and it's excellent news for the sector that fund will soon be open to us and similar schemes across England. The real value of this public money is its ability to leverage further funding from private and public sources at local level, which means that £1 million can go a very long way. The Woodland Creation Planning Grant has the potential to unlock pent up interest in the planting of new productive woodlands in the north of England, which until now has been held up by concerns over the potential costs of creating an acceptable design.
This is a fantastic opportunity and I’d encourage any landowners who are thinking of planting new woodlands to consider taking advantage of it. Recent research by SAC has shown that forestry can be at least as profitable as farming in upland areas and it provides a way forward for many farmers and estates who are looking to diversify future income streams. We know there is going to be a shortage of timber in the north of England in the next 25 to 30 years so planting now will be ready to take advantage of demand then".
Speaking at a Confor event, Modern Forestry: Unleashing the Rural Potential on the importance of the industry in Westminster in November, Forestry Minister Rory Stewart MP welcomed the announcement. Mr Stewart said: "Forestry is already a significant driver of economic growth, supporting 40,000 jobs and delivering in excess of £2 billion each year, and achieving this funding commitment in the last Budget served as real recognition of this industry's importance for our economy and environment.
"It's great news that the Chancellor has reconfirmed the future of the Forestry Innovation Project, and I now look forward to working with the Forestry Commission as they finalise plans to roll out the scheme to create more woodland and boost further growth."
Confor Chief Executive Stuart Goodall said: "Confor has worked hard behind the scenes to ensure this funding can help stimulate forestry across rural England - and I am delighted that we can now move ahead and work with Government to deploy it where it will be most successful in stimulating rural economic growth.
Roots to Prosperity is a blueprint to unlock the potential of the forestry and forest products sector across the north of England to maximise its economic potential. The sector has the potential to create over 1000 new jobs in the north of England in the next few years whilst supporting new business creation and sustaining existing jobs in a world class processing sector that has seen over £230m investment since 2010.
The Roots to Prosperity Partnership consists of Confor (Confederation of Forest Industries), UKFPA (United Kingdom Forest Products Association), Forestry Commission England, and Cumbria, County Durham and Northumberland County Councils.
