The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Use forest grants for housing, says woodland charity
Affordable housing in rural areas should be built with grants for the creation and management of woodlands, according to an environmental charity.
The Woodland Trust Scotland (WTS) is among the organisations and businesses struggling to find staff accommodation in areas where homes are scarce or expensive.
It is also looking at handing over land it owns for community housing.
The trust believes future forestry grants should be used to help communities buy land, develop forest enterprises and affordable housing.
Housing provision should also be part of larger woodland creation projects by private and other buyers.
The trust is responding to consultation on the Forestry Grant Scheme, which ended yesterday.
It argues there should be strong links between the grant scheme and the community empowerment and land reform agendas.
The trust says a requirement to assess community housing opportunity for woodland creation sites above a certain area should be considered.
“For larger schemes, an assessment should be made to scope combining the tree planting scheme with allocating land for affordable housing and then working with a housing trust to deliver this.
“Addressing the nature and climate crises needs people living and working in land management in Scotland, so we need to link subsidies with community revival.”
WTS bought Couldoran Estate in Wester Ross in 2021 after an £8 million appeal and will work to conserve and expand the woodland in the area.
It is talking to environmental lawyer Kathryn Rae, who launched a charity to buy Couldoran House to make it Scotland’s Rainforest Centre.
It is also discussing affordable housing with the Communities Housing Trust on the estate.
Arina Russell, WTS policy and advocacy manager, said the estate ranger took a year to move into the area due to a lack of housing.
She added: “We want to provide local jobs through the work we do and enhance the rural economy.
“Restoring woodland and peatland and providing a mosaic of habitats is going to be done by people who live and work there.
“So there needs to be these additional tangible benefits. More of us have to wake up to the fact we need to do this more holistically.
“It’s not just planting trees in the ground, but also looking at the wider picture of rural livelihood.”
She hopes other environmental groups will think of using their land for social benefit.
“I hope, and have fingers and toes crossed, that this opportunity comes off.
“I would love for the Woodland Trust to be one of the NGOs that has delivered this and creates a model for others.”