Devon council buys land to plant 25,000 new trees
![A field in South Brent on a clear day with a hill covered in trees in the distance](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/2048/cpsprodpb/86d4/live/41660b70-53d9-11ef-8e51-ad094f23b542.jpg)
South Hams District Council said it hoped to create "a lasting legacy"
- Published
A council has bought 65 acres (26 hectares) of land in south Devon to create a community woodland.
South Hams District Council said it was planning to plant 25,000 trees on the site in South Brent in a bid to tackle climate change and increase biodiversity by 20%.
It said the planting, due to start later in the year, would be supported through a partnership with the Woodland Trust and its MOREwoods scheme.
The government's Trees for Climate Land Acquisition Fund supported the purchase, which council leader Julian Brazil said would "leave a lasting legacy".
Trees 'for every resident'
Mr Brazil said: “We will be working with local schools, social prescribers and other local community groups.
"It will leave a lasting legacy for the South Hams."
"It is the start of us planting a tree for every resident of the South Hams," he added.
As part of the woodland, the fields in the parcel of land would continue to be a productive landscape and parts of the site grazed, the council said.
It added that an orchard and a market garden would be created in partnership with local group Sustainable South Brent (SSB) to deliver the project for their local area.
SSB vice-chairman Hayden Gabriel said: “Varied habitat creation and nature recovery in this zone of woodland, increased local food production and a natural educational resource are just some of the many advantages on offer."
The proposals are due to be shared with the local community at a drop-in event on Wednesday 14 August at the Old School Community Centre in South Brent.
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