Community Consultation Events have been organised for Monday the 15th and Wednesday the 17th of September. Please see this flyer for further details.

The Project Managers from Euroforest Silviculture and Representatives from True North will both be present.

The events will be held at the following locations:

Monday 15th September - 15.30 to 19.30 at Haydon Bridge Community Centre

Wednesday 17th September - 15.00 - 19.00 at Bardon Mill Village Hall

The following common discussion points were raised during the September engagement sessions:

Water acidification

Some local residents raised concerns over the potential for acidification of surface water from conifer needles.

Woodland creation offers strong benefits for water quality, runoff mitigation, infiltration, and aquatic ecosystem health. However, in acid-sensitive catchments there is a non-negligible risk that woodland (especially conifers) can exacerbate surface water acidification via canopy scavenging of atmospheric acid deposition. Good design (species, placement, drainage) and site-specific appraisal will help maximise benefits and minimise risks. The woodland creation scheme at Crow Hall does not lie in an acid-sensitive catchment, and a design the is created within the guidelines of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) will mitigate any possible acidification risk.

Conifers

Views were expressed that the planting of non-native conifers is unpalatable to the local community. It would be preferable that if there were to be a woodland creation scheme, it would rather be native broadleaves.

The purpose of the woodland creation scheme at Crow Hall is to produce a commercially viable productive forest that grows timber for future generations. To do so, we must use the tree species that are most suited to grow timber on site – these are non-native conifers. However, there is a large proportion of native species planned within the current design which will help to bolster biodiversity and aesthetics within the scheme in line within the UK Forestry Standard.

Viewpoints and landscape impact

Some were worried about the loss of key views from the Haresby Road due to planting of trees.

Whilst some views will be lost we will endeavour to identify key vistas and modify the top edge of the design to help retain those views. It should also be noted that it will be many years before the views are lost. At year 35, rotational felling will begin in coupes across the site, creating a mixed aged woodland and views will reappear as trees are felled and restocked in line with the UK Forestry Standard.

Impact on World Heritage Site

Part of the site lies within the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site Buffer Zone.

Initial consultation with Historic England has identified that due to the topography of the site, the scheme will not be visible on Hadrian’s Wall and thus, should not have impact on the World Heritage Site proper. We have undertaken a full historic environment survey of the site and will be commissioning a Heritage Impact Assessment report to help ensure that the scheme will have negligible to no impact on the historic environment.

Impact on localised properties and businesses

Concerns were raised of the encroachment of the scheme on to properties both within and bordering the Scheme. The proximity of the scheme to Thorngrafton was also raised.

The iterative nature of the design allows us to continuously adapt the design to ensure that we are sympathetic to our neighbours within the scope of the scheme. The UKFS has a hard 30m of open ground between any tree planting and properties, we have increased this with all properties that our scheme abuts and feathered the design to reduce the perceived future visual impact.

Timber Transport

The A69 is a busy road with fast traffic and the road is only set to get busier and faster.

Whilst we recognise that we have the right to bring timber out directly on to the A69 via existing access, we are exploring the removal of timber to the north of the site through the land holding that is also within the same ownership out on to the Stanegate and eventually on to the Military road – both of which are Agreed Timber Transport Routes.

For more details on TTRs – please visit this link: https://timbertransportforum.org.uk/

Impact on food production

Concerns were raids over the loss of farmland and the potential impact on food security.

Whilst we acknowledge that there will be an impact on food production there is a push from the government to increase forested area in the UK. The UK imports ~73% of the wood in consumes each year (vs ~40% of our food), and we remain one of the least forested countries in Europe. Although net area of woodland continues to grown in England, the area of conifer woodland has declined by 14% between 2007 and 2014. While causes of this decline include habitat restoration and restructuring woodlands to meet improved forestry standards, reducing the area and volume of conifer will have impacts on local timber security and carbon stocks. Although we will never be self-sufficient in timber supply, we need to make every effort to reduce our footprint on the global forest resource.

Furthermore, due to objective-led constraints such as upland waders, priority habitat, and deep peats; commercial forestry is having to move further down the slope towards the ‘pinched middle’ of grade 3 and 4 farmland.

Impact on wildlife

Concerns were raised over the change in landuse having an impact on local wildlife populations.

The scheme is being planned in line with the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017. The regulator for this is the Forestry Commission who has laid out a set of ecological survey guidance (found here) which is used to instruct independent surveyors. These surveys produced from here are then used to inform discussions with Natural England and the Forestry Commission Ecological Advisors over both the potential benefits and impacts of the scheme on flora and fauna. These discussions feed in to the design, allowing us to explore opportunities to expand habitats and increase biodiversity on site, whilst preserving the important areas of habitat that exist within the scheme boundary.

Public Access

Concerns were raised over the potential loss of access to the land.

There will be no decrease in access to the land. We are actively exploring ways to increase meaningful access to the area beyond the existing public rights of way. Where deer fencing is installed, swing gates will be used at all crossing points.