Tree Maintenance: Guidance to Local Authorities
Debate between Mary Creagh and Esther McVey(5 days ago)
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Mary Creagh
Of course, the hon. Member’s area is benefiting, under this Government, from the first national forest to be planted for 30 years. The Western forest will stretch from the Mendip hills up to Bristol, Gloucester—for the flood prevention—and the Forest of Dean, so there will be a huge increase. [Interruption.] She has quite a bit in her area, I hear her say—good. The canopy cover will increase there, with 20 million trees planted over the next 25 years. Some of that will be agroforestry and some restoration of ancient woodland.
Esther McVey
I know that the Minister cares passionately and knows a lot about this issue. Would she meet me and my constituent so that we can discuss Chris’s law?
Mary Creagh
The right hon. Lady is correct to bring me back to my conclusion. We have got five minutes, so I had a little tour via the Western Forest. On the point about 13% coverage, we are trying to get to 16% over the country by 2050. That has been a cross-party agreement under the Climate Change Act 2008 on the number of trees we need to plant to tackle climate change. It is important to look at tree access and tree equity as part of that. That is certainly in my processes as I think about where the next two national forests are going to be.
Let me bring this debate to an end. I thank the right hon. Lady for the debate and for bringing this tragic incident to my attention. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage local authorities to follow our guidance on tree risk management, issued by the National Tree Safety Group, and to develop tree and woodland strategies, taking advantage of the toolkit that has been developed specifically for them. We know that better management of trees can deliver improved outcomes, particularly for public health and safety.
I welcome the attention that Fiona and Sam Hall’s tireless campaigning has brought to this issue. I again express my heartfelt sympathies on their devastating loss. I am, of course, happy to meet the right hon. Member for Tatton and her constituent to discuss those issues further. I would be happy to meet Mrs Hall and Sam Hall. I invite the right hon. Lady to contact my private office to get a meeting in the diary.
Question put and agreed to.