Council spending £270k for new public woodland

PRIVATE LAND IN PLYMPTON TO BE BOUGHT

- By ALISON STEPHENSON

LEADER of Plymouth City Council Tudor Evans has authorised spending £270,000 to acquire private land at Plympton and create a new public woodland.

An executive decision was made under delegated powers to approve the business case and purchase land for sale at Merafield Road, subject to the council's offer being accepted.

It plans to fund it with monies from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Trees for Climate programme.

City council documents say the authority has “the opportunity to acquire a strategically important area of land for woodland creation and biodiversity enhancement... enhancing existing adjacent ancient semi-natural woodland at Hardwick wood, and increasing the recreational and amenity benefit of the site for members of the public.”