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:
People / organisations with an interest in biodiversity provided some really useful feedback:
Forestry England’s response:
There were some questions about pests and diseases.
Forestry England’s response:
There were several comments from mountain bikers:
Forestry England’s response:
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.
The Forest Plan for Forestry England's Bristol Woods, is due for renewal.
Forest Plans define our long-term vision for a woodland or a collection of woodlands, and set out how our management will move towards achieving this vision over the next ten years.
We would like to invite you or your organisation to leave some feedback on our proposed revision to the Forest Plan, which is available to download below in PDF format.
As part of the forest planning process, we carry out consultation with internal and external stakeholders, to ensure that the objectives of the plan are balanced appropriately, and to meet the requirements of the UK Woodland Assurance Standard, through which our woodlands are accredited.
This online consultation will be available until Monday 9th May 2022.
We will summarise the feedback and our responses by the end of May in the 'We asked, You said, We did' area. Your comments will be anonymous - you can choose to leave your name, but we won't include it in our summary.
Once this online stakeholder engagement has closed, we will examine the feedback and where appropriate, will incorporate suggestions into the Forest Plan. We will summarise the feedback on the 'We asked, You said, We did' page.
We will then submit the Forest Plan to the regulatory arm of the Forestry Commission for approval.
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