Having obtained specialist advice, the decision was taken by the Trustees of Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust, to harvest the historic crop of pine trees as part of the ongoing management of their land holdings and replace them with broadleaved deciduous trees. Four weeks’ public consultation took place ahead of the felling licence being granted.
The decision to fell and replace the trees came after seeking specialist forestry advice over the past two to three years, which revealed that the previous crop of Corsican Pine had reached its potential and would have gone into decline – causing increased safety issues and fire risks to nature and residents, due to lack of vegetation and plants.
The entire site will be restocked, in mid-March, with 4,500 trees of both UK-grown hardwoods and an intimate mix of conifers to aid the establishment of the crop - following the recently harvested Corsican Pine. This will increase the hardwood area of the wood by more than 50% of all trees, which will sequester carbon for decades and provide an improved habitat for plants and wildlife.
Timber harvested from the site will be used in construction, fencing and power supply. The timber that goes into construction and fencing will embed the carbon for the life of the product with the residues used for power and heat further reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
