New set of forest towns to be built between Oxford and Cambridge | Environment

A new set of forest towns will be built in the area between Oxford and Cambridge, nestled in the middle of a new national forest.

After facing anger from nature groups over deregulation planned in the next planning bill, ministers are trying to demonstrate that mass housing construction can be achieved in conjunction with new nature. The government has promised to plant millions of trees to enhance England’s nature.

Nature Minister Mary Creagh told the Guardian: “A previous Labor government had this grand vision of garden cities after the Second World War and, given our tree-planting promises, we thought: how can we create these forest towns that fundamentally bring nature closer to people, bring green jobs closer to these new communities and help us tackle climate change?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced investment in the “Ox-Cam corridor” and hopes to connect cities to create “Europe’s Silicon Valley”. The government sees it as essential to the UK’s economic growth and says it could bring up to £78 billion to the economy by 2035. The government says it will build new towns and rail links between the two.

At the same time, a new national forest will be built so that those who live and work in the region can enjoy green spaces and to create high-quality nature to complement urban areas.

Creagh added that the announcement would be part of Keir Starmer’s Cop30 bid. She said: “The Prime Minister is attending the Cop meeting of world leaders, it’s a Forest Cop in the Amazon and we are showing, as a country, that we are stepping up our efforts. »

She added that the model will show that government and developers can “use trees to build communities and provide beautiful housing and beautiful places for people, where people want to live and builders want to build.”

Houses in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor would be within a 10-minute walk of the forest, she said: “It’s about creating places and spaces where generations of people will build a home, raise their families, where they are enjoyable to live in and where nature can thrive. »

Another national forest will be planted in the north of England, with a competition to decide the location to be launched early next year as part of Parliament’s pledge to allocate more than £1 billion for tree planting and support for the forestry sector. In March the government announced the creation of the Western Forest, which was the first new national forest in three decades and is set to stretch from the Cotswolds to the Mendips.

All departments have been urged to link their policies to the Chancellor’s “economic growth mission”, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said tree planting creates growth, as meeting tree planting targets across Britain could result in the creation and support of more than 14,000 jobs. Defra also said it would explore a forest carbon purchase fund, offering upfront payments to landowners to plant carbon-rich forests.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “Our forests are vital to regulating our climate, supporting wildlife and increasing access to nature for us all.

“We are delivering on our manifesto commitment with three new national forests: planting is underway in the West Country, a second will take place between Oxford and Cambridge and we will launch a competition for a third next year.

More details on the government’s biodiversity measures are expected in the rewritten environmental improvement plan, which is expected to be published soon. This will set out how ministers plan to achieve the legally binding targets set out in the Environment Act 2021.