Exclusive:Legal action launched over 700-hectare Scottish Sitka forest after planting work halted

The investment firm behind a new commercial forest planned for swathes of black grouse moorlands in the Scottish Borders have launched legal action in the wake of a Scottish Government agency’s decision to halt all work on the site.

The plans for the new plantation near Peebles have been put on hold since September, when Scottish Forestry took enforcement action amid warnings from a local opposition group that hundreds of hectares of the rural site had been sprayed with herbicides.

The agency said it was not informed that large-scale overall herbicide spraying was planned prior to the application being submitted. Work was paused so the new information could be “reassessed” under a new screening decision.

But the fund behind the initiative - initially backed by more than £2 million from the Scottish Government’s forestry grant scheme, of which £518,000 has been claimed this year - has lodged a petition in the Court of Session for a judicial review of Scottish Forestry’s position. The petition has stressed the information on the approach to heather treatment approach was “clearly contained” in documentation submitted to the agency.

Campaigners have flagged various environmental concerns over the forest project at Stobo Hope. | Supplied

Guernsey-based True North Real Asset Partners, which manages the Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund, said the new woodland would constitute one of Scotland’s largest ever carbon sequestration projects in terms of tonnes of carbon captured by 2050.

The organisation said it had already made “substantial investments” in tree planting at a pace dictated by Scottish Forestry, and in line with best practice.

However, the project has been the subject of separate legal action by the Stobo Residents Action Group, which have expressed concern about the scheme’s impact on habitats for rare species of wildlife, and its location in a designated National Scenic Area.

Now, Harry Humble, chief executive of True North, said the organisation was taking legal action with “great reluctance” because of the “court imposed time limit” it faced.

He said while it had always had a “constructive dialogue” with Scottish Forestry about completing the project, it was not true to claim the agency was unaware of its use of herbicides.

“Whilst we sadly have had to accept the Government did not properly follow due process, we strongly refute any suggestion that Scottish Forestry was unaware of the need to use herbicide in limited parts of the site before making its screening decision,” he said.

A road has been established in the National Scene Area to support large vehicles heading to and from the conifer plantation site in Stobo Hope | Katharine Hay

“Ultimately everyone agreed that the objective in these areas has always been to remove heather in favour of trees, which sequester vastly more carbon in order to address the climate emergency.”

Mr Humble added: “Every forestry project in Scotland will inevitably face the challenge that some people may be disappointed by changes to their existing views of the landscape. We have always actively sought the widest public engagement in our forest design.

“Whilst we respect anyone’s right to object to our proposals, it is regrettable that a small number of individuals have chosen not to participate in the consultation, but rather use the courts to trip the government process up on a technicality. That action is undermining one of the most tangible efforts currently being made to address the climate emergency in Scotland.”

A spokeswoman for Scottish Forestry said: “We understand these matters are likely to be subject to legal proceedings, so we are not able to comment at this time.”