News on HS2 in Cheshire

Landowners near Phase One of HS2 have been making great use of HS2’s Woodland Fund, with a variety of woodland projects now taking root between London and the West Midlands.

The HS2 Woodland Fund is a grant scheme supporting HS2’s routewide ecology programme. It provides funds to help landowners restore Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites, which includes restocking with native trees and shrubs. It also helps create new native, broad leaf woodlands, especially where they connect or expand existing ancient woodland or connect semi-natural open habitats.

The £5m fund is currently open to applications from landowners within 25 miles of the Phase One route of HS2, which passes through parts of Greater London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, as well as the wider West Midlands. A £2m fund will be in place for phase 2a of the railway in future, which passes through parts of Staffordshire and Cheshire. The fund will be developed following Royal Assent of the Phase 2a Parliamentary Bill, which is expected at the end of 2019.

In November 2018, a landowner within three miles of the Phase One route in Warwickshire secured funding to plant over 18,000 trees of 23 different species. You can find out about this example of a successful funding application by clicking here

To find out more about the Woodland Fund and how to apply you can visit the Forestry Commission website by clicking here .