Hole Farm – a future local woodland
A new Community Woodland is planned at Hole Farm, in Great Warley near Brentwood, Essex
Hole Farm is a new 100-hectare multi-purpose woodland, sitting alongside the M25 at the northern end of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing.
The green space will be the largest community woodland in the East of England and enhances and connects habitats across the area. The facilities will include:
- A café
- A community room
- Tree nursery
- An all abilities loop and a network of connective paths
- A network of ponds
- Visitors’ car park
The woodland will be developed and managed in partnership with Forestry England. Find out more.
Next steps
In December 2023, Forestry England was given the green light to build the proposed infrastructure, which were designed and developed with the needs of local people in mind.
Work will begin in summer in 2024 with the new site opening in early 2025.
Diesel free and a local workforce
Building the new facilities embodies our commitment to using a local workforce and pushing the boundaries of low-carbon construction.
The work is being carried out by small- and medium-sized businesses from within 20 miles of the woodland, and the site will be diesel-free as hydrogen, electric, biofuel, solar and wind power are used to power the machinery and equipment.
Watch our short film on how our Delivery Partner, Balfour Beatty, are creating a local workforce.
Timeline
The woodland is due to open in Summer 2025.
Starting in Summer 2024, we will begin survey works the and demolition of the existing farm buildings.
What you can expect
Our working hours are Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00.
During construction you will notice and increased number of operatives on-site with an ongoing security presence throughout this period to assist with managing the facility.
Noise and dust mitigation measures are in place to minimise the impact of demolition works on residents.
We are installing temporary site compound soon, which involves increased vehicle deliveries via Hole Farm Lane.
In December 2023 Forestry England was given the green light to build the proposed infrastructure and facilities for visitors at Hole Farm Community Woodland.
The plans for the green space were designed and developed with the needs of local people in mind, with feedback from local people incorporated into the final planning application.
Hole Farm will be home to around 150,000 new trees, and provide facilities for visitors, including a network of surfaced paths, a café and community room.
With the help of volunteers from nearby schools and community, Lower Thames Crossing and Forestry England have already planted over 80,000 trees on the site, including species such as black poplar, oak, hazel and hornbeam. The species mix was developed with Natural England, the UK’s principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research, taking account of the site geology, soil condition and climate, and will be professionally managed by Forestry England to ensure a healthy broadleaf woodland.
The plans for the green space were designed and developed with the needs of local people in mind, with feedback from local people incorporated into the final planning application, which was given approval through the process of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for afforestation. The consent given by Brentwood Borough Council now clears the way for work to start on facilities.
7,000 questionnaires were sent to households in the surrounding area to gauge people’s opinions of the project and to hear what they would like to see, do and experience at Hole Farm community woodland.
Four follow-up virtual workshops were held with the local community, as well as drop-in days, which included guided tours of the proposed community woodland, to discuss the four main themes of the project: community and recreation, design and delivery, nature and biodiversity and access, traffic and public rights of way.
The information gathered was used to develop Hole Farm's woodland design and held our final consultation drop-in days in Great Warley in September 2022.
With the help of volunteers from nearby schools and community, Forestry England has already planted over 80,000 trees on the site, including species such as black poplar, oak, hazel and hornbeam. The species mix was developed with Forest Research, the UK’s principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research, taking account of the site geology, soil condition and climate, and will be professionally managed by Forestry England to ensure a healthy broadleaf woodland.
See photos from the tree planting below.
