Issue - meetings

Tree Nursery Business Case

Meeting: 08/09/2022 - Cabinet (Item 8)

8 Tree Nursery Business Case pdf icon PDF 160 KB

A paper setting out the business case for the establishment of a tree nursery to enable and ensure the supply of trees to meet Warwickshire’s 2030 Climate Change tree planting pledges and replacement stock.

 

Cabinet Portfolio Holder – Councillor Heather Timms

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Heather Timms (Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate & Culture) reminded Cabinet that as part of the response to Climate Change, the council had made a commitment to plant a tree for every resident by 2030.  The most cost-effective way to acquire the trees that were needed to meet this commitment was for the council to start growing its own.  Councillor Timms explained that the proposal before Cabinet was to utilise the Forestry Team’s well-established skills and experience to develop a tree nursery on one of the council’s small holdings.  She noted that there were very few tree nurseries in the UK and most trees were currently sourced from Europe, with procurement costs increasing exponentially with demand. The business case made provision for the council to provide trees for its own use and to supply to other local authorities. 

 

In response to comments from Councillor Tim Sinclair, who welcomed the report, Councillor Timms indicated that the Forestry Team had plans to develop apprenticeships in order to supplement the existing skills base.

 

Resolved:

 

That Cabinet

 

1.     approves the business case as set out in this report to establish a Council run tree nursery on identified small holding land to produce trees in support of Warwickshire’s 2030 Climate Change tree planting pledges

2.     approves the use of £140,000 of funding from the Climate Change Action Fund to support the establishment of the tree nursery, and authorises the Strategic Director for Communities to take such other steps as he considers necessary to establish the nursery.