Community woodland planting completed by councillors

Published: 10 March 2020

Councillors and staff from Exeter City Council have been busy planting trees in the city.

The councillors were helping to create a community woodland for local residents to enjoy. A total of 2,000 trees have been planted as part of the Monkerton Ridge Plan.

Members of the public started the work just over a week ago, planting some 1,500 trees. The work however was disrupted by bad weather, so councillors and staff stepped in to complete the job.

The woodland creation site was recently adopted by the City Council from a developer in order to provide green space for the local community.

The Council is working in partnership with Trees for Cities to create the community woodland, which will be publically accessible and provide a number of benefits to not just local people but to the wider area.

A 2018 I-tree Canopy Cover Assessment revealed that Exeter’s Canopy Cover is 24.5%, which is above average for UK towns and Cities.

The City Council recognises the great importance of trees and woodlands. Cllr David Harvey, Lead Councillor for Environment and City Management, said: “Trees not only benefit the environment and also provide valuable habitats for wildlife and biodiversity, they also deliver recognised benefits to mental health and wellbeing.”

Exeter City Council has set itself an ambitious target of reaching 30% canopy cover by 2040. In order to reach this target there needs to be a concerted effort from the council as well as other land owners within the city, to not only look after existing trees, but also to increase tree planting where there is the opportunity to do so.