Brexit minister visits Scottish sawmill
16 February 2017A senior minister in the UK government’s Brexit team has had discussions with Confor on the major issues affecting the forestry and timber sector during a visit to a sawmill.
Robin Walker, minister in the department for exiting the European Union, was given a tour of the BSW mill at Fort William.
Stuart Goodall, Confor’s chief executive, welcomed the opportunity to discuss the UK’s EU exit with the minister face-to-face at such a crucial time - and to stress the importance of the forestry and wood processing sector, which employs almost 80,000 people across the UK and delivers £2bn in economic value every year.
Mr Goodall presented Mr Walker with copies of Confor's report, A Thriving Forestry and Timber Sector in a Post-Brexit World .
“The UK government is absolutely committed to ensuring that we have the strongest possible rural economy after Brexit and forestry will be a key part of the discussions as to how we achieve that,” said the minister.
“As the UK leaves the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), there will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design rural policy and funding support that meets local needs,” added Mr Goodall.
“The CAP has shut forestry out, but we now have an opportunity to unlock jobs and investment, reduce the impact of climate change and flooding, and provide an array of benefits for wildlife, recreation and leisure structures will look after Brexit.”
The visit was part of a series of fact-finding visits being made by Mr Walker ahead of the detailed negotiations which will follow the triggering of Article 50.
