Guidance

Annex 3: Capital Item FY2: Woodland Infrastructure (Further Information)

Published 9 February 2021

Applies to England

Find out more information about Capital Item FY2: Woodland Infrastructure

1. Overview

This capital item supports improving the management of the woodland through making woodland accessible by road, allowing timber and other forest products to be moved more easily or to support the establishment of new woodland.

Under this item we will pay 40% of actual costs (including VAT and agent’s fees, where applicable).

You must submit at least three written quotes with your application and when you submit your claim you will need to provide receipted invoices that show you have made the payment (and that funds have already left your account).

You can find the guide to support this item on GOV.UK at: FY2: Woodland infrastructure.

2. Key points

Your Woodland Creation plan must identify the need for the proposed access to support the establishment of the new woodland and your application map must clearly show the proposed location of the infrastructure.

Once you have an agreement you will need to prepare a detailed specification, tailored to the site. The specification needs to set out the work that will be carried out on site showing due consideration to the soil conditions on the site.

The specification needs to meet the Forestry Commission’s Construction, Design and management (CDM) regulations for forest roads and tracks. For more information please read Roads and tracks: operations note 25.

You need to provide a clear rationale as to the roading specification selected and the Forestry Commission will assess this.

Before applying for this item you must notify your local planning authority so they can check whether the work can be classified as a permitted development. This process requires you to submit a description of the work to the Local Authority. For more information read: Planning permission for farms.

Where the proposed road crosses a watercourse or uses culverts during construction, use or maintenance you’ll need to obtain consent for work from the Local Planning Authority (or internal drainage boards within an internal drainage district).

If the road requires access to the public highway then you may need to notify the relevant highways authority too. You must send a copy of the Local Planning Authority’s advice and any permits with your application.

The Forestry Commission will decide whether the work requires consent under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) Regulations. This is dependent on whether the proposal will have a significant effect on the environment. You can find more information about this in the Environmental Impact Assessments for woodland: overview.

The infrastructure under item FY2 does not require scoring as a stand-alone item when applied for as part of a Woodland Creation grant.

The Woodland Creation cap of £6,800 per hectare does not include the infrastructure item (FY2) and associated capital items such as gates for new entrance points or culverts/drainage requirements.

You can use item FY2 on land outside of planting area, for example, for access reasons. However, you must have full management control of the land and the land must be registered to your SBI. You must agree the need for such access with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer. If the infrastructure crosses land that is not being planted as part of the new woodland creation then this land needs to be free of any obligation in relation to Environmental Stewardship grants.