A letter to forestry minister David Rutley MP urges him to consider broadening the FIZ programme into the north-east from the initial pilot scheme in east Cumbria.
The letter is signed by Peter Jackson, a farmer and the leader of Northumberland County Council, as well as Labour MEP for north-east England Paul Brannen, a strong supporter of the forestry and timber industry.
Other signatories are Stuart Goodall, Confor chief executive and Simon Hart of Egger. Egger is the largest private sector employer in Northumberland, with almost 650 people working at its chipboard factory in Hexham.
The letter is also signed by Beccy Speight, CEO of the Woodland Trust and Mike Childs, head of science, policy and research at Friends of the Earth.
All six signatories spoke at Confor's Superwood conference in Newcastle in December, where the idea of developing a FIZ in Northumberland found widespread support.
“Forestry Investment Zones are a real opportunity to drive forward productive planting and Northumberland is a prime area for a FIZ, as Confor highlighted in its paper last year,” said Mr Goodall.
Confor’s paper says that a FIZ would allow specific areas to be designated as suitable for planting, with the potential for enhanced grants and accelerated approval times.
“We believe the key to the success of the initiative is collaboration between economic, environmental and political interests, which is why we wanted to show the minister that there is both cross-party and cross-sector support for a FIZ in Northumberland,” said Mr Goodall.
