Bristol Woods forest plan

The external consultation for the Bristol Woods forest plan was open for five weeks in April / May 2022. Posters at the main entrances to each of the publicly accessible woods directed people to an online survey.

The majority of the 87 respondents to the survey were recreational users of the woods. There was also useful feedback from national and local organisations including Natural England, Historic England and Abbots Leigh Wildlife Group.

Positive comments included:

“I feel the plan addresses natural capital regeneration, species diversity and climate change mitigation very well.”

“It seems to me that the plan is excellent and balances the priorities of biodiversity, timber production and amenity.”

Some concerns were raised - these are listed below.

The actions relating to Leigh Court registered park and garden are a bit vague and it isn’t clear how they have been decided.

Forestry England’s response:

• A conservation statement for Leigh Court will be produced within the first year of the forest plan. In the meantime, actions are based on discussions with the Forestry England Historic Environment Team and assessments of past management objectives.

People / organisations with an interest in biodiversity provided some really useful feedback:

Forestry England’s response:

• According to our records, West Tanpit Wood is not recorded as ancient woodland. However, we will investigate the suggestion that it is, and ensure that forest operations and future planting are adjusted if needed. Also, while it may appear that there is a lot of felling due, it is spread over at least 3 decades, and is mostly non-native larch which is potentially at risk of infection from Phytophthora ramorum.
• Important species and habitats, including the stream in West Tanpit, Tilia cordata in Leigh Woods, and butterflies and other insects will be mentioned more prominently in the plan and the relevant comments from the online survey passed to our ecologist.

There were some questions about pests and diseases.

Forestry England’s response:

• We will protect coppice regrowth from deer damage wherever possible using temporary fencing.
• Ash dieback remains a challenge and will require some further felling eg in Ashton Hill, but we hope that by replacing the ash with more diverse mixtures, we will increase the resilience of the Bristol Woods for the future.

There were several comments from mountain bikers:

Forestry England’s response:

• Forestry England has supported mountain biking for many years. Unfortunately, we cannot allow bike trails everywhere, especially in the fragile habitats of the Leigh Woods SSSI and surrounding areas, where native broadleaves will be planted to replace recently cleared conifers. The local Forestry England team will continue to work closely with Ride Bristol as representatives of the cycling community.

Other comments and suggestions, including offers from potential volunteers have been passed onto the local beat team, who will contact individuals and groups as and when appropriate.