Horticulture and Tree Planting

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 3 June 2021.

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Photo of Stuart Anderson Stuart Anderson Conservative, Wolverhampton South West

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage communities to engage in (a) tree planting and (b) community garden initiatives.

Photo of Rebecca Pow Rebecca Pow The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

We are committed to increasing tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this parliament. We will take steps to improve public access to trees and woodlands in a responsible way, encourage community-led tree planting and invest in partnerships with communities and local government.

This includes steps to empower local authorities to support communities in tree planting. Local tree and woodland strategies offer an opportunity for local communities to decide where new trees will be planted and how existing trees will be protected.

We are opening the Local Authorities Treescape Fund, to work in partnership with Nongovernmental Organisations, local landowners, and community groups to deliver strategic planting and natural regeneration of trees outside of woodlands for the benefit of local communities and nature.

We are also supporting a number of initiatives to inspire communities to engage with tree planting and community gardens:

  • The Queen’s Green Canopy Project will see communities, charities, schools, and local councils planting trees across the UK in celebration of the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
  • The ‘Plant for our Planet’ initiative has also been introduced to encourage individuals, communities, and businesses to help protect the natural world, either by starting a new activity or by joining an existing project.

The National Planning Policy Framework already makes clear that planning policies and decisions should aim to achieve healthy, inclusive and safe places which enable and support healthy lifestyles, especially where this would address identified health and wellbeing needs, for example through the provision of safe and accessible green infrastructure. The Government also recently sought views on the draft National Model Design Code, and supporting Guidance Notes, which sets out how local design codes may specify levels of green infrastructure provision, including allotments, community gardens and street trees, as a critical component of well-designed places that provide multiple benefits for biodiversity, nature, recreation, climate change resilience and health and wellbeing.

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