Mulgrave Estate plans to plant 300,000 trees over 550 acres in pioneering woodland project

The Phase One planting area will cover the parishes of Glaisdale and Egton (Egton Grange).

Robert Childerhouse, Mulgrave’s estate manager, said: “This is probably one of the largest private woodland creation projects in the North East and is something the estate is very passionate about, with woodland currently making up some 16 per cent of the estate’s 15,000 acre area.”

A public drop-in consultation for the plans has been arranged for Tuesday March 12, between 3pm and 7pm, at Egton Village Hall.

A similar consultation meeting was held last summer.

Mr Childerhouse added: “This consultation will enable us to share our revised plans with residents and obtain their views.

"It’s very important to us that the public are kept informed about what we are planning and what we are hoping to achieve with our new woodland.

“We received pretty good feedback from our previous public meeting, which was also held at Egton Village Hall, but we have revised our plans to take into account comments from residents and statutory authorities.

“Our estate woodland is used for both commercial timber production as well as amenity and conservation.

"We have a very successful firewood business and we employ four foresters on the estate.

“Mulgrave Woods at Sandsend are open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year, except in May when the birds are nesting.”

Once the final consent has been given by the Forestry Commission, the first trees will be planted this winter.