Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Scottish Woodlands regarding reported community opposition to the planting scheme at Warblaw in Langholm.
Neither Scottish Government or Scottish Forestry have had recent discussions with Scottish Woodlands regarding community opposition to the Warblaw planting scheme.
The project developer has recently been seeking feedback on their draft planting proposals and planting scheme may change in response to community views.
The Warblaw proposal is currently going through the due diligence (development) stage of the woodland creation application process. This stage is led by the landowner’s forestry agent, Scottish Woodlands. Public consultation events, focussed on this project, were held in April 2023 and August 2024.
Scottish Forestry officials attended these public consultation events, have been copied into community feedback provided to Scottish Woodlands and are aware of the concerns about the project.
Scottish Forestry hasn’t received a formal planting application. When a formal planting application is submitted Scottish Forestry will assess the proposal including carefully considering how community concerns have been addressed, and there will be a further public consultation exercise to inform this assessment.