The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership approve a new Tree and Hedgerow Strategy to help tackle challenges faced by climate change

The Tree and Hedgerow Strategy sets out a five-year plan in which the Partnership intends to manage, plant, and promote trees and hedgerows across the sub-region of Boston, East Lindsey, and South Holland.

The plan's vision is to ensure communities across the Partnership have more trees and hedgerows to help restore both environmental and social balance by providing them with greener spaces to live, visit and invest.

To make this vision become a reality, the Strategy has three objectives. The first objective is to Protect, which focuses on looking after the existing trees and hedgerows on Council land as they already provide benefits for people and biodiversity that newly planted trees take years to provide.

To do so, the Councils aim to have policies in place to protect existing resource, whilst also ensuring the activities of the Councils have the least negative environmental impact. If a tree must be removed on Council owned land in line with the policies, then the Partnership will ensure there is an overall net gain in the trees replanted.

Planting new trees and hedgerows is the second objective of the Strategy, which focuses on ensuring both location and species choice are appropriate for the setting and that all trees are sustainably sourced to minimise the spread of pests and diseases.

The final objective of the Strategy is Participate, which involves the Council engagement with local communities to develop new opportunities for residents to get involved with both the management and planting of trees and hedgerows.

The Partnership will also support engagement with businesses, town and parish councils, community groups and local schools to encourage the growth and management of tree and hedgerows.

The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership will therefore work together on Action Plans to deliver these objectives to ensure a greener, more sustainable future for its residents.

A joint statement from Councillor Paul Skinner Leader of Boston Borough Council, Councillor Craig Leyland, Leader of East Lindsey District Council, and Councillor Gary Porter, Leader of South Holland District Council said: "Lincolnshire has one of the lowest tree cover rates in the UK which is why this Strategy is so important to its residents across the Partnership and for future generations to come.

"We hope with strategic planning and maintenance trees and hedgerows can thrive in both public and private land, to ensure that we all do our bit for the environment, by increasing biodiversity and working towards the Government's Net Zero goal by 2050."