Hathern Community Woodland

Over 14,000 trees have been planted on council-owned land off Golden Square in Hathern to create a 15-acre community woodland.

The project is being supported by the Forestry Commission and Hathern Parish Council.

The woodland comprises a mix of native and naturalised trees, with smaller woodland edge species on the boundaries

The project will also contribute to the Council’s commitment to become Carbon Neutral by 2030. It is estimated that after 30 years the Hathern Community Woodland has the potential to capture up to 1,323 tonnes carbon dioxide.

The trees at Hathern Community Woodland were also planted in support of the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC).

Community planting sessions

A number of community planting days took place during November and December to enable local residents to involved and help to plant the woodland. 

The majority of sessions were run by the Council's open spaces partner idverde and one session was hosted by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV). 

Thank you to all the volunteers who took part in the tree planting sessions.

Site plan

An updated plan of the community woodland has been produced and can be seen below. It can also be seen in this document:Hathern Community Woodland site plan (PDF Document, 0.71 Mb) 

Summer 2021 public consultation

A consultation was held in the summer of 2021 and received over 200 responses.

The consultation revealed overwhelming support for the proposal. Among the 207 responses received, there was only one objection to the scheme.

75% of respondents thought the scheme was satisfactory without the need for any improvements. These comments are typical of those supporting the project:

• “Welcoming....excellent for the community”
• "Welcome addition”
• “Peaceful walking space and....help with the carbon footprint”
• “Good...to explore and exercise in nature”
• “Good for future generations”

A small number pf respondents raised concerns, or suggested improvements to the design. We have put together some frequently asked questions to help answer some of the points raised during the consultation

Frequently asked questions