Council set to plant 4,000 trees creating new wood at country park near Clipstone

The wood will soon spring up Vicar Water Country Park, Clipstone, after Newark & Sherwood Council approved plans to plant trees in a 4.4-hectare area previously grazed by sheep.

When the sheep farmer retired, the council says it ‘spotted an opportunity’ to create an extensive habitat scheme within the Green Flag-winning park.

In August, the council, along with Nottinghamshire Council and the Sherwood Forest Trust assessed and found the Vicardale site to be suitable for a major tree planting scheme.

Oak, silver birch, downy birch, aspen, wild cherry, small leaved lime, rowan, hornbeam and crab apple are among the 25 varieties of trees to be planted.

The plan follows consultation with environmental groups and the public after the district council and its partners devised plans to join up two existing woodland areas to create a wildlife corridor

It is hoped the trees will improve biodiversity with future plans for woodland flower planting and the creation of wildlife habitats including bird boxes and bat boxes.

It is anticipated planting will start in January.

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Climate emergency

Coun David Lloyd, Newark & Sherwood Council leader, said, “It’s great news for our district and another example of our greening agenda at work.

“We recognise the urgent need to plant more trees to help address our climate emergency.

“These plans will benefit the residents, wildlife and landscape of the area.

“Through direct planting and free tree giveaways we have planted more than 10,000 trees since 2019.

“This is already in excess of our original target to plant 10,000 trees by 2023.

“This project, combined with our annual free tree giveaways, puts us on course to potentially double this initial target figure by 2023.”

The Sherwood Forest Trust will maintain the site for the first 12 years, by which time it is hoped the site should be established to a point that maintenance can be integrated into the routine running of the park.

The public will not be able to access the wood while the trees are being established and pathways for future generations are established.

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