Scotland receives £2 million timber transport boost

Five new projects which will reduce the impacts of timber transport on communities and improve the transport infrastructure are being funded by Scottish Forestry.

£900,000 has been allocated to the projects which include upgrades to existing fragile rural roads, creating passing places or building new in-forest routes to take timber traffic away from people’s homes.

A further £1.1 million has already been committed to funding on-going initiatives including the TimberLINK coastal shipping project, a three-year electric timber lorry trial and a network of Regional Timber Transport officers across Scotland.

Welcoming the Strategic Timber Transport Fund support, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:

“Our forests produce around 6 million tonnes of timber each year. This is a vital part of our green economy which generates over £1.1 billion to Scotland each year and supports around 34,000 jobs. “It is important that this timber gets to market safely and very importantly, in a way which minimises any impacts on rural communities. This funding aims to achieve this and more.

“In our drive towards Net Zero, I’m looking to promote innovative ways to decarbonise how our timber gets to market in a way that is more environmentally friendly. Using sea routes and exploring the use of electric timber lorries are good examples of this.”

The new projects being funded are:

• Argyll and Bute Council (£150,535): The A819 is a key strategic timber transport route and is due to carry almost half a million tonnes of timber over the next decade. Funding support will make a number of construction and safety improvements at Electric Cottage.

  
  
  
  

• Stirling Council (£207,835): The C33 at Balquhidder is a narrow, mostly single-track road which will support around a quarter of a million tonnes of timber being transported over the next decade. Funding will upgrade the road, increase passing places and improve forest exits.

  
  
  
  

•  Angus Council (£150,000): The C27 and C28 roads in the Angus glens are not suitable for sustained timber traffic, which is due to increase over the next 10 years. This project will improve and upgrade key sections by strengthening, widening and patching the carriageway, providing improved passing places throughout, and installing enhanced drainage at key sections.

  
  
  
  

• Barhill Strategic Timber Transport Committee (£45,000): The Barhill Timber Haul Route ensures timber haulage will not need to use the local fragile public road network. This project will upgrade the Carrick Burn bridge to allow continued use and avoid the impacts of more than a quarter of a million tonnes of timber being extracted over the next decade.

  
  
  
  

• Tilhill Forestry (£381,232): As one of the principal timber producing regions in Scotland, Argyll communities will benefit from the diversion of 100,000 tonnes timber transport from Lagalochan and Loch Avich timber along the C29, C30 & B845, through Dalavich and Kilchrenan. This will allow timber movements onto primary routes without using local roads.

The TimberLINK project operates from Argyll using ships instead of timber lorries to move 75,000 tonnes of timber each year to state-of-the-art wood processors in Ayrshire. On average, this service avoids around 4,000 lorry journeys and reduces emissions by 1,700 tonnes per annum.

The three-year electric timber lorry trial (EV Timhaul) is nearing its second year in operation with both companies, James Jones and Sons (Lockerbie) and Scotlog Shipping (Inverness), becoming advocates for fleet electrification.

The network of Regional Timber Transport Groups and the Timber Transport Forum will also continue to be funded. These groups and staff provide a critical liaison between communities, local authorities, the forestry industry, and Scottish Forestry to assist with timber transport issues.

Dr William Clark, Scottish Forestry’s Forest Transport & Innovation Advisor added:

“The Strategic Timber Transport Scheme has been reducing the impacts of timber haulage on Scotland’s communities for 25 years. “Over 600 projects have been supported in this time, reducing the impacts of over 1 billion tonnes of timber transport on communities and the environment”.

All the projects under the Strategic Timber Transport Fund are co-funded by the local authorities or public and private partnerships.