Scheme will see up to 12,500 more trees planted in Shropshire
Shropshire Council is bringing back a scheme which aims to see thousands more trees planted in the county.
The council will work with a tree nursery to provide young trees to successful applicants to the community tree scheme.
The trees distributed by the scheme will be transplants up to two-years-old which, once established, will grow quickly in their new environment.
Due to the short timescale before the coming planting season, the reintroduced scheme will be more streamlined than previously, by offering pre-mixed packages of trees for collection from the nursery.
Through this year’s scheme it is hoped that up to 12,500 new trees will be planted across the county, building on the success of previous schemes that have seen over 130,000 trees planted throughout Shropshire.
The focus of the scheme will be to plant copses and small areas of native woodland and enrich existing hedgerows, to enhance the landscape and for wildlife value.
As the trees mature, they will become more effective at storing carbon and along with other initiatives, contribute to the wider target of the county reaching net zero carbon by 2030.
Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for adult social care, public health and climate change, said: “We’re excited to reintroduce the community tree scheme.
"This is a great example of how we can all come together to help us achieve our common goal – to reach net zero carbon by 2030.
“As a council we have an ambition to plant a tree for every resident in Shropshire.
"The reintroduction of the previously popular community tree scheme is a good step forward in achieving this.
"We are also exploring other means to accelerate this process to enable us to plant more trees each year.”
More information about the scheme will be released when it is launched.
Potential applicants are advised to keep an eye on Shropshire Council’s website, where the application form and full details of how to apply will be available.
