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How much will be paid

Under this item we will pay 60% of actual costs (including VAT and agents fees, where applicable).

If you are using your own labour to complete this item, we will pay 80% of the 60% value.

Where to use this item

You can apply for this grant as a standalone item under the Countryside Stewardship Protection and Infrastructure Grant or apply for this item as part of your Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier grant.

You must have a woodland management plan or a woodland creation plan before you apply for this capital item. Or have an agreement with your woodland officer that an infrastructure is necessary for the management of your woodland.

The Forestry Commission will assess your application for this capital item before you are offered an agreement.

How this item will benefit the environment

It makes woodlands more accessible by road, allowing timber and other forest products to be moved more easily. This improves the management of the woodland.

Requirements

An existing Forestry Commission approved woodland management plan must identify that poor vehicle access to the woodland is preventing the movement of timber and other forest products.

You can also get agreement from your FC woodland officer that a forest road is necessary for the maintenance of your woodland.

You must prepare a detailed specification, tailored to the site. This needs to set out the work that you will carry out on site, the volume of timber that you expect to be produced and the soil conditions on the site.

The work could include the construction of:

• extraction tracks for mechanised timber extraction to a transfer point
• haulage roads and turning points
• haulage road entrances or laybys
• profiling and paving timber transfer points and stacking areas
• culverts and other road and track side drainage
• woodland security, such as gates for new entrance points

The specification needs to meet national legislation, following the construction, design and management (CDM) regulations for forest roads and tracks. Read the Forestry Commissions Operations Note 25 for more information about CDM regulations.

Keeping records

Before you apply for this item, you must:

• notify the local planning authority and the relevant highways authority so they can decide whether the work can be classified as a permitted development. Read Planning permission. This requires you to submit a description of the work to the Local Authority.
• get consent for work from the local planning authority (or internal drainage boards within an internal drainage district) where the road crosses a watercourse or uses culverts during construction, use or maintenance.
• where a new road in a forest needs access to the public highway you may also need to notify the relevant highways authority. You must send a copy of the local planning authoritys advice and any permits with your initial application. The Forestry Commission will decide whether the work requires consent under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) Regulations. This depends on whether the proposal is likely to have a significant effect on the environment.

You must send the following with your application:

• 3 quotes for completion of the work
• consent from local planning authority (if required)

You must keep the following records and supply them with your payment claim:

• receipted invoices or bank statements where a receipted invoice is not available
• photographs of the completed work

You must keep the following records and supply them on request:

• any consents or permissions connected with the work
• photographs of the site before works starts
• Forestry Commission Management Plan approval letter

The detailed requirements for this item will be tailored to the Higher Tier site. If you are a Higher Tier applicant you should discuss and agree these requirements with your adviser.

Please see the record keeping and inspection requirements as set out in the relevant manual (Higher Tier or Protection and Infrastructure for more detail.

Further information

See the Higher Tier or Protection and Infrastructure manual to find out more about the respective schemes and how to apply.

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