GLENROTHES Development is to hand over 800 acres to the Woodland Trust
as part of the winding-up process of Scotland's new towns.
The transfer, announced today, will be the biggest gift of woodland in
the UK so far and will coincide with the Woodland Trust's 10th birthday.
The corporation will also provide an endowment to help with funding
management of the woodlands.
An informal feature of the gift is nearly 200 acres of land at
Formonthills, where the Woodland Trust will create a community woodland
for the people of Glenrothes. This and the remaining 600 acres of
established woodland will become places of ''informal recreation and
quiet enjoyment''.
Glenrothes Development Corporation's depute chairman, Mr David Smith,
said: ''Our prime concern has been to protect the world-famous
environment of Glenrothes for its people. Woodlands are the most
important single feature of man-made landscapes and, with proper control
and management, will outlive all cosmetic townscapes. The Development
Corporation was anxious to transfer these assets to an organisation with
the resources, expertise and commitment to manage and maintain them for
the public at large. We are confident that the Woodland Trust, with its
excellent track record, will be diligent long-term custodians of the
woodlands.
He added: ''We are also impressed with the trust's policy of involving
local people in looking after woodland.''
Mr Andrew Bachell, recently appointed operations director for the
Woodland Trust in Scotland, said: ''The timing of this gift could not be
better, falling as it does in our 10th anniversary year in Scotland.
Receiving a gift which combines established woodlands with the
opportunity to create a woodland from scratch, is obviously ideal from
the trust's point of view.
''The trust also brings with it more than two decades of experience in
managing urban and rural woodlands.''
The woodland at Formonthills will be the trust's largest woodland
creation project in Scotland. It will combine open grassy spaces with
pathways, a bridle path and access for the less able. Over the next few
years, 80,000 trees and shrubs will be planted. The first 10 hectares
will be planted with the help of the community on November 26, during
National Tree Week.
The trust will hold a public meeting on November 17 in Rothes Halls to
give people an opportunity to find out more about the trust and to
participate in its work.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article