Correspondence

eAlert: 2 November 2020 - Improved Woodland Creation Planning Grant launched today

Published 2 November 2020

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ealert-2-november-2020-improved-woodland-creation-planning-grant-launched-today/ealert-2-november-2020-improved-woodland-creation-planning-grant-launched-today

Find out about the revised Woodland Creation Planning Grant and start your application today!

Book onto a free webinar to find out how the sector can work together to be prepared for EU Exit.

1. Improved Woodland Creation Planning Grant launches today

The revised grant is now available for those with an interest in planting new woodland.

The Forestry Commission has launched improvements to the Woodland Creation Planning Grant. We have listened to your feedback and this information has helped inform the changes that have been made.   Improvements include a reduction to the minimum application and block size, as well as removal of the requirement for 70% of the species proposed for planting to achieve minimum growth rates. Additional changes have streamlined parts of the process and reduced duplication with regulatory processes. These enhancements to the grant will support a broader range of woodland creation and enable more landowners, farmers, land managers and public bodies to develop their plans.

The Woodland Creation Planning Grant helps cover the costs of producing a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliant woodland creation plan. This can support applications to other funding sources for woodland creation, such as the Woodland Carbon Fund, Countryside Stewardship and HS2 Woodland Fund. For more information visit our GOV.UK page on the Woodland Creation Planning Grant or watch our video below.   Those already in receipt of a Woodland Creation Planning Grant Stage 1 offer may request the addition of new blocks of proposed woodland over 0.5 hectares. If the additional areas are accepted the future Stage 2 offer will include these areas. To bring the additional blocks into the agreement, Stage 1 agreement holders will need to submit a revised Stage 1 checklist in the revised Woodland Creation Design Plan Template (see the How it works section under stage 1) which accounts for the expanded project area. No additional Stage 1 payment will be made. We will not retrospectively add new areas to existing Stage 2 agreements; current Stage 2 agreement holders who would like to extend their project areas in line with the new rules will need to submit a new application to us.

2. Video showing the improvements to the Woodland Creation Planning Grant

Watch our video to find out how the Woodland Creation Planning Grant has changed and start your application today. 

You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel to get alerts when we post new videos.

Watch our video on the Woodland Creation Planning Grant and subscribe to our YouTube

3. Free webinars on EU Exit preparedness

Book your free place on the webinars today.

Forestry Commission is partnering with ICF, Confor, Natural Resources Wales, Welsh Government and Scottish Forestry to run three webinars on the impact of EU Exit in the forestry sector. These aim to continue the dialogue between governments, forestry professionals and forestry businesses to ensure the sector can work together effectively when the transition period ends and changes need to be implemented.   Details and registration for these events can be found on the ICF pages below:

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