Agenda item

Terry Offen, Wiltshire Council’s Woodland Officer Team Leader, will deliver a presentation about the role of the team and the grants available to support tree planting.

Terry Offen, Wiltshire Council’s Woodland Team Leader, gave an overview of tree planting targets in the United Kingdom before speaking about the role of his team and the grants available to support tree planting. Points included:

·       To meet government targets Wiltshire needed to plant 435 hectares of woodland, an area the size of Devizes, each year for the next 30 years.

·       It was highlighted that 40 percent of Wiltshire was in national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs) or historic sites, areas where it was often harder to undertake tree planting at scale.

·       There were a large amount of Wiltshire Council owned farms, so the Woodland Team were working with tenants on tree planting schemes.  

·       Grants for tree planting were open to all and there were a wide number of different types available.

·       The Great Western Community Forest group offered to fund up to 100 percent of project costs for periods of up to 15 years. Support was available for schemes with as few as 25 trees.

·       Forestry England would also cover up to 75 percent of costs for up to a period of 10 years.

·       The Woodland Team were able to provide advice on planting the right sort of tree in appropriate locations, as well on how to care for trees. They also played an important role in networking, to ensure that groups communicated effectively to deliver projects.

·       A recruitment campaign was underway to recruit Tree Wardens, for The Tree Council. Wiltshire Council had recently resumed work on coordinating the scheme. Tree Wardens surveyed trees and helped to identify new places to plant trees. Full training would be provided online.  

·       Wiltshire Council was creating a log of all the trees being planted in the county.

During the discussion, points included:

·       Jason Cook from Royal Wootton Bassett Environment Trust asked what percentage of Wiltshire would be covered by trees if the targets were met. The Woodland Team Leader noted that tree coverage in Wiltshire in 2023 was between 12 and 14 percent and that target was to achieve 17 percent coverage by 2050.

·       Wiltshire Council’s Director for Environment contextualised that 333-hectares, the amount aimed to be delivered through the woodland accelerator grant funding, was equivalent to 466 football pitches.

·       Wiltshire had a relatively low tree cover for a rural county as much of it was taken up by Salisbury Plain.

·       In response to a query about the challenges in planting trees in AONBs, the Director for Environment noted that protected landscape characteristics restricted tree planting in some areas. The Woodland Team Leader noted that conversations were being held with AONB boards about the issue. It was also clarified that specific landscapes in AONBs might be unsuitable due to the presence of certain animal species, or as they may not have originally been wooded.

·       Captain David Thomas from 5^th Battalion Royal Mechanical Electrical Engineers queried whether the Defence Infrastructure Organisation had been approached about the possibility of planting trees on parts of Salisbury Plain or at Lyneham.

·       Tree Warden was a voluntary role.

·       Clarity was sought about how the number of trees was identified and when a sapling became classified as a tree. It was noted that newly planted trees could be reported to the Grant Application and Planting Support Team so they could be registered.

·       Cllr Lay noted that she would welcome further tree planting in Bradon Forest.

Further information was available between pages 27 and 37 of the agenda pack, online, or by emailing the Grant Application and Planting Support Team on GAPS@wiltshire.gov.uk.