Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hectares of new woodland were created in the National Forest in 2010; and if she will assess the prospects for future new woodland creation in that area.
James Paice (Minister of State (Agriculture and Food), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
The National Forest Company created 195 hectares of new woodland in the planting season 2010-11.
The National Forest Company estimates that it will create 150 hectares of woodland in 2011-12, and in the three years following it expects to plant in the range of 150 to 175 hectares, depending on a number of factors including land availability.