GovWire

Landowners, land managers and public bodies (other than Forestry England) can apply to the Forestry Commission to support the design of new woodland under the Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG).?

You can apply for 1,000 to complete stage 1 of the Woodland Creation Design Plan Template (MS Word Document, 242 KB).?This is a desk-based exercise to identify the constraints and opportunities that may affect the proposed planting. If theres potential for woodland creation to take place on the site, then you will be offered a stage 2 payment. At stage 2,?you can get 150 per hectare,?minus the 1,000 offered at stage 1,?to?complete stage 2 of the Woodland Creation Design Plan Template. You may get supplementary payments for specialist survey work if a need for them is identified at stage 1.?

If your application is under ten hectares in size, we will make a minimum payment of 500 for stage 2.

The total amount of funding is capped at 30,000 per project.?

Find out if youre eligible

On 2 November 2020, the minimum application size and block size was reduced and we have removed the requirement that 70% of the species proposed for planting will achieve minimum growth rates.

You must plan to create woodland that is:?

• located in England
• a?minimum of?five?hectares or?more?in total size. If the proposed woodland is?split into different?blocks, each block?must meet the definition of woodland set out by?the National Forest?Inventory: a?minimum?area of 0.5 hectares?and?a minimum?width of 20 meters.??

If?you intend to seek grant aid to plant the woodland,?you?should consider the minimum?areas?required to apply for grants for woodland creation?when planning your proposal.

Landscape-scale applications that span multiple land holdings may be accepted. You do not need to own or control the?land,?but?you?will need a letter confirming that the landowner(s) support the application. If your proposed site spans a border, we will only make a stage 2 payment of 150 per hectare on the land that is in England.

You may include more than 20% of designed open space in your plan if the constraints of your site make this necessary, but the total stage 2 payment will be limited to the net planting area plus 20% (of the gross area). This means that any designed open space in your plan over and above 20% of the total project area will not receive funding.

If youve already applied for Countryside Stewardship, the Woodland Carbon Fund, the HS2 Woodland Fund, or submitted an?Environmental Impact Assessment?(EIA) enquiry form to plant a new woodland, you are not eligible to apply for Woodland Creation Planning Grant on that site.?

If you are already in receipt of a WCPG stage 1 agreement offer, you may request the addition of new blocks of proposed woodland over 0.5 hectares. If we agree to these additions, the future stage 2 offer will include these areas from 26 October 2020. To bring new blocks into their agreement, stage 1 agreement holders will need to submit a revised stage 1 Woodland Creation Design Plan Template which covers the expanded project area. No additional stage 1 payment will be made. We will not retrospectively add new areas for existing agreement holders with an existing stage 2 offer. If you are an agreement holder at stage 2 and would like to extend the project area in line with the new rules, you will need to submit a new application to us.

Biodiversity, habitats and environment

Existing native, semi-natural habitats are likely to have a high value for biodiversity, and for landscape and visual interest. This will need to be compared with the value of new woodland. The Forestry Commission does not support the conversion of priority habitats, such as deep peat or active raised bogs.

Where the proposed planting is on semi-natural habitat, the presumption is that the planting will be restricted to native broadleaved species or retained as open ground, adding to the forest mosaic.?

Find out more about?woodland species, habitats protection?and the Governments principles for afforestation on or?near to?Priority Habitats.?

How it works

The funding will support you to gather and?analyse?the information that you need to make sure your proposal takes into account:?

• biodiversity?
• landscape?
• water?
• historic environment
• local stakeholders?(to support your engagement with stakeholders, please share this letter to request stakeholder input (MS Word Document, 95 KB) with them when you contact them for information to explain how their response will be used)

Youll have to develop a?UK Forestry Standard-compliant plan for woodland creation that shows any constraints and opportunities, and how these are accounted for.

If your land is already under an existing grant agreement, then your woodland creation design plan must cover the impact of tree planting on that agreement.?

Youll receive payments in?two?stages and you may be eligible for Supplementary?payments (see below).?

Creating a Woodland Creation Design Plan

You will need to complete this Woodland Creation Design Plan Template (MS Word Document, 242 KB) in two stages:?

Stage 1

Stage 1?requires?you to complete a desk-based exercise, identifying constraints and opportunities for your site. You will compile your data?in stage 1 of the Woodland Creation Design Plan Template?and give supporting documents, including at least a site context map.

If the Forestry Commission decides theres potential for planting woodland on the proposed site then youll be offered a stage 2 payment.?

Stage 2

Do not start work on stage 2 of the Woodland Creation Design Plan template until?you have a stage 2 offer from the Forestry Commission.?

You get a stage 2 payment for producing a Woodland Creation Design Plan by completing?stage 2 of?the template. You will find a list of required maps and plans in the Woodland Creation Design Plan Template. This includes:

• a site context map
• a site appraisal plan
• a design concept plan and final design plan?

If stage 1 of the Woodland Creation Design Plan Template indicates that theres potential for woodland at the site then you will get an offer of stage 2 funding, including any?supplementary payments where relevant.

The Forestry Commission makes the stage 2 payment on approval of your completed Woodland Creation Design Plan Template and the documentation that supports it.?

The Woodland Creation Design Plan Template and supporting documents required at stage 1 and stage 2?will demonstrate a design?process, from a survey of the sites key features to analysis of how they will affect the proposed woodlands design to synthesis, bringing this information together into an informed design for the woodland.

All elements of the woodland creation design plan you finally submit (including any specials reports and surveys funded through?a?supplementary?payment) should be clearly referred to in your Woodland Creation Design Plan, showing how those elements of survey and anal

View the original news story