A CAMPAIGN to drive economic growth in the forestry and timber industry has helped to secure £1 million in Government funding thanks to the efforts of a York businessman.

Roots to Prosperity is headed up by Oliver Crombe, who works for Timber Auctions in Murton, and York Christmas Trees, and was set up to bring together forestry and timber companies, local authorities and Forestry Commission England across North Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in an effort to create rural employment and economic growth.

The progress made by the initiative has led to the allocation of £1 million to unlock the full potential of the forestry sector across England, with Roots to Prosperity being quoted by the Chancellor when the fund was announced.

Confor, the sector’s trade body which represents almost 2000 forest businesses, had pressed for the fund, which was initially announced as part of the coalition government’s last Budget, to be retained as part of the current spending review.

The money, which will be used to support business development in the sector, was confirmed in a letter from The Chancellor to Confor’s chief executive Stuart Goodall.

Mr Combe who, with funding from Confor, chairs the Roots to Prosperity scheme in the North of England, said: "Roots to Prosperity has successfully brought the public and private sector together to quantify how the forestry and timber sector can drive sustainable rural development in northern England and it is now identifying substantive actions that can deliver real growth.

"We will be looking carefully at an application for additional resources from the new fund and where they can best be deployed.

"It is excellent news for the sector that this fund will soon be open. The real value of this public money is its ability to leverage further funding from private and public sources at local level, which means that £1 million can go a very long way."

Confirmation of the £1 million fund for the sector was made by Forestry Minister Rory Stewart at a Westminster conference this week, Modern Forestry: Unleashing the Rural Potential.

Confor chief executive Stuart Goodall said: "Confor has been lobbying through a variety of channels to ensure that this funding is continued to help stimulate forestry and wood processing across rural England following the early success of Roots to Prosperity.

"I am delighted that we can now move ahead and work with Government to deploy it where it will be most successful in stimulating rural economic growth."

An announcement is due to be made soon on when the £1 million fund will be open to applications.