Let's get growing on York's new 200-acre 'community woodland'

Off to one side, a wickerwork house and circle of logs upended to make seats amongst a grove of oaks mark where a forest school has been set up.

There’s a woodland pond, where the iridescent shapes of dragonflies flit and dip across the surface and, at the end of the path you’re following, a picnic area. Through the trees to your left you can see an open-air theatre: that’s where you came to see a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream a few days ago.

But the best thing of all is the trees - thousands and thousands of them; ash, oak, beech, elder and hawthorn, stretching all around you in a green, leafy silence stirred only by the wind and the buzzing of insects.

A woodland walk

No, this isn’t some far off forest park up on the North York Moors or over in the Lake District. It is right on the edge of York - just to the west past the ring road and the village of Knapton.

And it’s no pipe dream, either. City of York Council has already bought 150 acres of farmland to the west of York between Knapton, Harewood Whin and the B1224 Wetherby Road, for the creation of what is being called the York Community Woodland.

The land was bought using part of a £3m Northern Forest budget agreed by the council in February 2020.

The authority is looking at buying another 30 acres of land next to the A1237. And all this, taken together with adjoining land already owned by the council, means that eventually the new woodland will cover almost 200 acres.

The council says it hopes to have planted 50,000 trees by 2023. And eventually, it may plant as many as 100,000.

The new woodland will be part of the government’s Northern Forest - an initiative which aims to see 50 million new trees planted across the north of England.

Map showing the extent of the planned new woodland. Chapelfields and Acomb are to the right

There are many reasons for planting the new woodland, the council says.

It will be a wonderful place for local people to come and walk, play and generally enjoy the benefits of fresh air and outdoor exercise.

It will be an important wildlife habitat, which will increase biodiversity. Creating the new woodland will provide new green jobs and volunteering opportunities. And the woodland will also act as a ‘carbon sink’, helping York meet its emissions targets.

It will be a woodland for people to enjoy for ‘generations to come’, says council leader Keith Aspden - a new, leafy stray on the western edged of the city.

But exactly what kind of woodland will it be? Thick, unspoiled woodland that is mainly about the wildlife, with just a few narrow paths?

An open, public woodland, with wide glades, picnic areas, a café and even an outdoor event area? Or something in between?

Equally importantly, what trees should the council be planting? And could it perhaps set aside part of the land that could be left to itself to re-establish naturally a native woodland over a period of years and decades? That would be a great project for local schools to follow - as well as being good for biodiversity.

Apart from announcing that it will be going ahead with the new woodland, the council hasn’t yet decided on any of these details.

Instead, it wants the people of York to tell it what kind of woodland we would like.

It even wants us to come up with a name - calling it the ‘York Community Woodland’ is just a stopgap.

You have until May 19 to let the council know what kind of woodland you would like to see.

To help you, the authority has come up with three possible 'woodland concept' designs, which have been developed as a result of a detailed 'land character assessment' the council has been carrying out over the last few months.

"This looked in detail at things like the woodland site’s existing ecology (flora and fauna), heritage assets, landscape, soil types, drainage features and access points," a council spokesperson said.

"The assessment has given us a good understanding of the opportunities and constraints presented by the site."

One of the council's 'woodland concept' designs

The three possible 'woodland concept designs' are included in a major consultation document the council has published, which you can see at york.gov.uk/YorkCommunityWoodland.

It isn’t intended that we should necessarily choose one of these three designs, says the authority’s woodland engagement officer Laura Redhead - instead they’re intended more as a guide to the range of things that are possible.

“We want people to understand what our community woodland could look like, and to be involved in the process of designing it,” she said.

The three 'concept designs' set out in the council’s consultation document are:

The Carbon Woodland

This would be densest form of woodland: 100,000 trees (a mixture of broadleaved and wet woodland species), with a forest school and visitor centre but no event space and open spaces limited to just a few rides and wayleaves.

Trees would be densely planted, and the main function of the woodland would be carbon capture, though there would be a network of small paths for people to use.

The Accessible Woodland

A less densely panted wood, with just 50,000 trees, plenty of paths, tracks and trails, an events area, ponds and a forest school and visitor centre.

There would be bicycle racks, and even possibly some car parking.

The Multi-purpose Woodland

This would be midway between the other two options: a medium density woodland of 70,000 trees with a small events area, a network of paths, resting points and features, a community orchard, and the forest school and visitor centre.

To have your say on the York Community Woodland - including suggesting a possible name - visit the consultation pages on the council's website at york.gov.uk/YorkCommunityWoodland