Government says it has not ‘scaled back’ tree planting
THE Welsh Government has defended its plans in Carmarthenshire and maintains it has not ‘scaled back’ woodland planting near Llangadog.
The announcement comes after the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) gave a cautious welcome to what it perceived to be a Welsh Government decision to scale back plans to plant prime agricultural land in the Towy Valley.
The Welsh Government announced in February this year that it intended to plant 94 hectares (232 acres) of farmland it had purchased at Brownhill, near Llangadog – prompting outrage from the local community and across Wales.
FUW deputy president Ian Rickman, who farms nearby, said: “The suspicion is that the Welsh Government thought branding the project as a ‘Covid memorial woodland’ would diffuse objections to the loss of valuable farmland at a time when we have seen lots of land in the area purchased by outside buyers for tree planting.
“People saw through that, and anger about the plan was acute, not only locally but across Wales.
“We therefore welcome the decision to scale back the plans by preserving around 50 acres of what we understand is the better farmland.”
However a Welsh Government spokesman said the land was always earmarked for a range of uses and said there was no scaling back, adding: “We have not scaled back plans for the Llangadog site.
“Natural Resources Wales (NRW) purchased the site to create a commemorative woodland space for people to visit, to relax and remember family and friends lost to Covid19. Due to its size, it was always the intention for the site to demonstrate a variety of types of sustainable land use within the overall ambition of creating a beautiful, varied commemorative woodland, whilst enhancing the species, rich grassland and riparian areas adjacent to the River Towy.
“Modern woodland creation to the UK Forestry Standard always includes non-woodland habitats and a large site like this (94 hectares) offers a wealth of opportunities to trial and showcase different ways of working.
“Using areas of the site for other purposes, in consultation with the local community, was always the aim.
“NRW continue to work with the local community and families to plan and design the woodlands in line with the feedback they have received.”
However, Mr Rickman argued that the loss of around 180 acres of farmland to afforestation still represented a major blow and added: “Last year we saw something like a six-fold increase in applications to plant woodland in Wales compared with previous years, with around 75% of applications made by individuals or bodies based outside Wales which had purchased Welsh farmland.
“A lot of those applications related to planting around east Carmarthenshire and south-west Powys.” He added: “At the other end of the country at Tynmynydd on Anglesey, the Welsh Government outbid local farmers by paying a staggering £14,000 per acre for prime agricultural land to plant trees.
“That is land which should continue to be used for growing food, especially at a time of global food shortages.
“If we are to plant more trees we need to focus on keeping it in local ownership by helping our farmers do so in a way which works alongside food production and agriculture.
“The Welsh Government should not be encouraging, or themselves implementing, blanket afforestation policies.”