Wood Fuel
The Surrey Hills is one of the most wooded AONBs with almost 40% woodland cover. Woodland is perhaps now the defining feature of the Surrey Hills landscape. This diverse woodland includes; shaws, old coppice, wooded ghylls, parkland trees, small carrs and conifer plantations.
Despite Surrey being Britain’s most wooded county, very little of it’s woodland is managed and the majority of the wood resource goes unused. This has a negative impact on biodiversity and access to the woodland.
There is a rapidly growing local market for wood fuel in the form of logs, wood chip and wood pellets. Surrey’s neglected woodlands therefore present a significant opportunity for the revitalisation of the local economy through the development of a supply of local renewable energy.
The Surrey Hills Wood Fuel Working Group has been established to encourage people and organisations based in and around the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to adopt wood fuel as their primary method of heating and to use the wood fuel now being produced locally. The group aims to:
- Promote the professional development of wood fuel production in the Surrey Hills AONB and the sustainable management of its forest.
- Assist and advise the six local authorities in the AONB and neighbouring authorities to promote the use of wood fuel in new developments.
- Create and maintain awareness among developers and end users of the benefits of using wood fuel as an energy source.
- Work and coordinate with wood fuel producers and suppliers of wood burning equipment, to ensure that the developing market is fully realised.
- Provide an annual rolling programme of community outreach, marketing, training and advice.
"We are the most wooded county in the country, and much of this is secondary and low grade woodland that is ideally suited to wood fuel production. We should be aiming now to be the most wood-heated county in the country."
Michael Sydney, Chairman of the Wood Fuel Working Group.
Click here to read a testimonial about the benefits of wood fuel
Members of the Wood Fuel Working Group
Chairman - Michael Sydney, Chairman of the Surrey Hills Board, Surrey County Councillor and Tandridge District Council.
Support Officer - Gail Sperrin, Working Group Coordinator.
- Rob Fairbanks, Surrey Hills AONB Director
- James Little, Harvest Wood Fuels
- Richard Edwards, Forestry Commission
- Matthew Woodcock, Forestry Commission
For further information on the Wood Fuel Working Group, please contact Gail Sperrin, Working Group Coordinator on 01372 220 651 or email gail.sperrin@surreyhills.org.