Scottish forestry minister Allan Wilson has launched an “Agreed Routes Map” designed to minimise the impact of timber lorries on rural roads in Tayside.
The map, the result of an 18-month study and consultation by the multi-agency Tayside Timber Transport Liaison Group, has been drawn up to deal with a predicted increase in the timber harvest during the next 20 years.
It divides the region’s roads into four categories: “agreed” routes; “excluded” roads, which cannot be used in their present condition; “consultation” routes, recognised as vital for timber extraction but which may have conditions attached; and “severely restricted”, which should only be used to an agreed management regime.
Jamie Farquhar, director of Forestry & Timber Association (F&TA) Scotland, said: “The substantial increase in timber production over the next 10 years demands that the forestry industry and local authorities continue to work closely together to ensure that this important resource can be transported to the mills.”
Members of the Tayside Timber Transport Liaison Group include Forestry Commission Scotland, Perth & Kinross and Angus Councils, F&TA, Forestry Contracting Association, UK Forest Products Association and Scottish Enterprise Tayside.
