Fenland to get leafy facelift thanks to £48,500 grant for new trees

4,000 smaller trees and 80 larger ones will be planted in areas of Fenland thanks to £48,500 worth of funding.

Fenland District Council was awarded the money to plant the new trees and cover the cost of their aftercare for the next three years after a successful bid to the Forestry Commission’s Local Authorities Treescape Fund.

The council says the district currently has just 2.3 per cent tree cover compared to 16 per cent nationally.

The new plantings will also help to address some of the expected tree loss due to Ash Dieback disease.

Cllr Peter Murphy, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, said: “Tree planting not only helps us to improve nature on our land and improve air quality for residents, but it also has additional positive impacts on mental health and wellbeing.”

The trees will be a combination of 4,000 smaller ‘whips’ and 80 larger ‘standard’ trees.

‘Whips’ are tree seedlings under a metre in height, which are typically planted in large numbers to grow into copses, hedgerows or woodlands over time.

 'Standards’ are larger trees that are often two to three metres high.

The council will be discussing potential locations for planting with local town and parish councils.

The planting will be managed by the council’s open spaces team, with support from community volunteers and Tivoli, the council’s grounds maintenance contractor.