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News Release from: Forestry Commission | Subject: Ayrshire Forestry Strategy
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 July 2003
Ayrshire Forestry Strategy Wins Top
Planning Award
The recently launched Ayrshire and Arran Woodland Strategy has won an award for excellence in the annual Scottish Awards For Quality in Planning.
It is also attracting interest from many quarters, including Europe, arising from its reputation as an exemplar of best practice in integrating forestry planning with wider land use planning Launched in January, it is one of the first five examples in Scotland of local forestry strategies receiving financial support from the Scottish Executive in the form of special forestry grants to stimulate the types of woodland planting that the Strategies promote
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 15 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Strategy, and the special Ayrshire Woodlands Locational Premium grants made available through the Forestry Commission Scotland to help put it into practice, particularly aims to achieve: * well designed woodlands that will produce high-quality timber; * native and riparian (riverbank) woodlands for nature conservation; * woodlands designed to restore landscapes that have been damaged by industrial activity such as mining; * woodlands in and around towns and villages that will provide attractive settings and accessible opportunities for recreation near the places where people live and work; and * farm woodlands to diversify the farmed landscape.
The Executive has made available ?1.2 million over three years for Locational Premium grants of between ?800 and ?2000 a hectare for new woodland establishment projects that will help to deliver one or more of the objectives.
The Premium is payable in addition to standard grants from the new Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme (SFGS).
Further reading
Statistics on timbers prices and wood production
Latest national statistics on timber price indices, and the latest national statistics on UK wood production and trade (provisional results), produced by Forestry Commission
GBP24m for urban woodland makeover
Woods near to towns and cities are set to get a new lease of life, thanks to a further GBP24m cash injection from the Scottish Government.
Boosting renewable energy forms in Scotland
Number of key actions to boost the use of biomass for renewable energy in Scotland have been announced by Environment Minister, Michael Russell.
The Strategy identifies parts of Ayrshire where forests and woodlands are a "preferred" land use and where there are few constraints on their establishment; areas where there is "potential" for forests and woodlands but where there might be constraining factors such as scale or impacts on biodiversity; and areas that are "sensitive" to afforestation, where there are particular sensitivities.
Many of the latter areas are subject to designations such as Site of Special Scientific Interest or Special Protection Area.
In their citation, the judges said, "The Ayrshire and Arran Woodland Strategy addresses the importance of timber to the Ayrshire economy, the transportation of timber, and forestry grants.
"The judges were impressed by the work of the Joint Committee and the Forestry Commission in taking forward the Indicative Forestry Strategy of (Ayrshire's) structure plan to develop a joint strategy for proactive implementation.
They found that both the spatial analysis and the integrative processes of planning formed a highly effective basis for prioritising the forestry grants administered by the Forestry Commission, the identification of economic development opportunities in forestry, and creative environmental improvement programmes.
"This entry has taken Indicative Forestry Strategies to a higher level.
For the first time a plan has resulted in the Commission introducing special top-up grants to implement it.
The judges noted that there had been wide consultation on the strategy." They said they "looked for evidence of outstanding work, appreciation of sustainable development issues, community and user involvement, consumer testing, a significant contribution by the planning service, innovation, wider benefits, and difficult problems tackled and resolved." Welcoming the award, Ayrshire Joint Structure Plan and Transportation committee manager Ian Johnson said, "We're obviously delighted to receive national recognition for our Woodland Strategy.
Trees, woods and forests play a significant role in both the landscape and economy of Ayrshire and their pro-active management is crucial to future success.
It is interesting that our work seems to have struck a chord with other agencies.
We have already been visited by organisations from most parts of Scotland, and indeed from Ireland and Turkey, who are looking to put some of our ideas into practice in their own areas.
We will now build on this with the appointment later this year of a project officer to take the implementation forward." The Forestry Commission Scotland's Conservator for Strathclyde, Keith Wishart, also welcomed the award, saying, "I'm delighted that the tremendous work of all the partners involved in preparing the strategy has been recognised in this way.
We very much look forward to implementing the strategy on the ground and in so doing, helping to maximise the contribution that sustainable forestry can make to improving lives and landscapes in towns and villages across Ayrshire.
This is something I hope the whole forestry community will welcome and promote." The Strategy was drafted by a steering group comprising North, South and East Ayrshire Councils, the Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department and the RSPB, and chaired by the Ayrshire Joint Structure Plan and Transportation Committee.
It replaced the county's previous Indicative Forestry Strategy.
The Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning are made annually by the Scottish Executive in association with the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland.
This year's judges were Daily Record associate editor Joan Burnie, independent planning consultant Gordon Mann, and Barbara Illsley of Dundee University's School of Town and Regional Planning.
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