HL Deb 14 February 1991 vol 526 cc17-8WA
Lord Brougham and Vaux

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have any plans to establish further community forests.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Baroness Blatch)

As part of their joint initiative to develop a programme of community forests near major conurbations, the Countryside Commission and Forestry Commission have announced nine new candidate sites. The locations are Bedford, Bristol, Cleveland, Manchester, Merseyside, Nottingham, South Hertfordshire, South Yorkshire and Swindon. As the next step, the Government have authorised the commissions to propose to their local authority partners the appointment of project teams for each area. These teams, consulting closely with interested parties, will draw up detailed plans as the basis for deciding action. Such plans are already in preparation for three other sites: The Forest of Mercia (South Staffordshire), The Great North Forest (South Tyneside and North-east Durham) and Thames Chase (to the east of London). The further areas bring the total programme proposed to twelve forests, spread throughout England.