Controversial 700-hectare Scottish Sitka plantation plans to undergo new impact assessment

Scottish Forestry confirmed the company behind the plantation will need its consent to continue

A controversial planting scheme in the Scottish Borders that was paused over legal and environmental concerns is required to undergo a screening process to determine whether it can continue, it can be revealed.

Planting for a 700-hectare predominantly Sitka spruce forest at Stobo Hope, near Peebles, has been on hold since September. Scottish Forestry had taken enforcement action amid warnings from a local opposition group that hundreds of hectares of the site had been sprayed with herbicides.

At the time, the Government agency said it was not informed that large-scale overall herbicide spraying was planned prior to the application being submitted. The planting, which has been backed by more than £2 million from the Scottish Government’s forestry grant scheme, was then paused so new information could be “reassessed” under a new screening decision.

Entrance to Stobo Hope site where planting was taking place but has since been paused, with the project under judicial review | Supplied

True North Real Asset Partners (TNRAP), the company behind the plantation, lodged its own petition in December for a judicial review of Scottish Forestry’s position. The organisation claimed information on heather treatment was “clearly contained” in documentation submitted to the agency.

This week, Scottish Forestry confirmed the applicant was required to apply for an environment impact assessment (EIA) - a process whereby the agency will determine whether the company has consent to continue.

The Stobo Residents Action Group (SRAG), which initially lodged a petition of a judicial review of the planting scheme, said it welcomed the decision for an EIA, saying the agency now “recognises that the project is likely to have significant effects on the environment”.

Scottish Forestry halted forestry work at the Stobo Hope woodland creation scheme in the Scottish Borders in September 2024. The decision came after new information about herbicide spraying at the site. | Supplied

Concerns have been raised about the plantation’s impact on moorland flora and fauna, particularly the fragile black grouse population.

A spokesperson for the group said: “We would expect the EIA to find significant harms in terms of cumulative, ecological and special landscape area impacts, as highlighted by our judicial review last year, resulting in the legal cancellation of the £2m taxpayer-funded grant contract for the Stobo project.

“Given the nature and scale of these impacts, we expect that consent would not be given for this project, if applied for.”

A Scottish Forestry spokesperson said: "We consider that the Stobo woodland creation project is an EIA Forestry Project and therefore requires our consent. The applicant has been requested to commence the scoping process and seek a scoping opinion from Scottish Forestry.”

The agency said it could not comment on the scheme further due to ongoing court proceedings.

Harry Humble, chief executive of TNRAP, welcomed Scottish Forestry’s decision, saying: “This is a positive move and we are glad to move forward. In conceding the original judicial review challenge, it is clear Scottish Forestry have accepted that in the case of the Stobo project a more formal structure, by way of the EIA, is required.”

Mr Humble claimed the company followed what was required in the application process, adding: “We adhered to everything Scottish Forestry stipulated during our extensive, diligent and rigorous design and consultation process. We recognise some of the concerns they have now raised and we look forward to concluding the project on a formal footing.”

A SRAG spokesperson claimed Scottish Forestry, despite saying it would work with the local community, had not informed the group of the ongoing process between the applicant and Scottish Forestry.