TREE planting applications are set to be simplified in England after ministers agreed to cut paperwork 'red tape'. 

Forestry Commission (FC) officials have made changes to the consultation process for woodland-creation grants and felling licences. They say this will speed up the procedure, significantly altering an "outdated" method that had been in place for several decades. 

Paperwork delays have long been blamed by contractors for England's tree-planting woes, with the nation falling well short of its target to create 7,500 hectares of new woodland each year. 

READ MORE:  Contractor feared business was 'gone' amid planting paperwork delays

Richard Stanford, FC chief executive, said: “We are committed to increasing woodland and tree cover in England, in line with government’s targets. 

"We have made improvements to speed up the application process for landowners and farmers to help get more trees growing in the land whilst making sure we adhere to our legal obligations."

The changes have been made after the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) agreed to a request from the FC to withdraw the 1984 Ministerial Direction on consultation of forestry proposals and the associated 1996, 1988, and 2021 Ministerial Statements.

Forestry Journal: Richard Stanford Richard Stanford (Image: Stock image)

These instructions outlined requirements for the FC to undertake consultation on applications for woodland creation grants and felling licences during this period.

The FC will now undertake a consultation: 

  • where there is a statutory requirement to consult with any organisation
  • where there is a requirement to have regard to the protection of a feature of interest or the purpose or function of another organisation,
  • where it believes that there are other organisations who might hold relevant local information that may inform an assessment of an application. This includes engaging the County Archaeologist on all woodland creation applications. 

Elsewhere, the FC says it will only undertake a consultation once and will "reuse advice and information received in that to inform any further regulatory or grant giving decision stages".

Richard added: “I encourage anyone thinking of undertaking an exciting and rewarding tree-planting project to take advantage of the changes announced this week and to take the next steps towards helping increase tree cover across the country to help tackle the climate change emergency and biodiversity crisis.”

Further details on the consultation reform can be found here.