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Woodland Creation Grant

Rebecca Mahony - Wilson Wraight


For those businesses considering planting trees there is a Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant available, where applicants can apply for a one-off payment for the trees and associated protection items and infrastructure to aid in the establishment of new woodland.

 

Applications for Woodland Creation Grant can be made at any time. If successful the applicant has 2 years to purchase and plant/install these capital items, and a further 3 months to submit their payment claim.

 

Applicants can choose from a range of capital Items each of which have a value which is a one-off payment that will be paid towards the cost of that item or activity. Agreement Holders must maintain their capital items for 5 years from the date of final payment. The exception to this is Leaky Woody Dams which need to be maintained for 2 years.

 

In order to be eligible for the Woodland Creation Grant the following eligibility thresholds are applicable:

 

Minimum Area per application 3.00ha

Minimum Block size 0.50ha

Minimum Width 20 meters

 

If planting is part of measures for water quality or flood prevention in exceptional and fully justified cases these thresholds are lowered to:

 

Minimum Area per application 1.00ha

Minimum Block size 0.10ha

Minimum Width 10 meters

 

A summary on the capital items can be seen below, with further details available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/woodland-creation-grant-countryside-stewardship

 

  • Tree Planting £1.28/tree
  • Individual Tree Shelter £1.60/unit
  • Fencing £4.00/m
  • Sheep Netting £4.90/m
  • Rabbit Fencing supplement £2.50/m
  • Fencing Supplement – difficult site £1.24/m
  • Deer Fencing £7.20/m
  • Wooden Field gate and wooden wings £390.00/gate
  • Badger Gates £135.00/gate
  • Water Gates £240.00/gate
  • Top Wiring – Stone Wall £3.60/m
  • Small Leaky Woody Dam (1-3m) £461.39/dam
  • Large Leaky Woody Dam (3-5m) £764.43/dam
  • Woodland Infrastructure 40% of actual cost (based on the selected quote)

 

To support successful establishment of and on-going maintenance of new woodland, there is also the opportunity to apply for the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier Option Woodland Creation Maintenance Grant which offers a multi-annual payment of £200 per hectare for a period 10 years. Applicants who are eligible can apply for this option provided the objectives of the Woodland Creation capital agreement have been met and the final claim has been paid.