Scottish forest planted with 91 per cent Sitka hits the market for £10m in 'rare' sale
Forestry agents said forests of its size and accessibility were rarely offered for sale in southern Scotland.
A forest extending to almost 2,000 acres has been put on the market for more than £10 million, in a sale expected to attract interest from forestry investors.
Westwater Forest Estate, near Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway, is being marketed through Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group.
The estate includes 1,028 acres of commercial conifer woodland, 91 per cent of which is Sitka spruce, including a genetically improved variety, according to the sale advert.
The trees were planted mainly in 2008 and 2009 and are now approaching the middle of their rotation.
Permission is already in place to thin 257 acres, giving a new owner the opportunity to generate timber income before the main crop is harvested, forestry agents said. Further planting may also be possible, subject to planning and other consents.
The forest also contains 101 acres of native broadleaved woodland and areas of open ground. Five scheduled monuments are situated within the estate, all on existing open ground.
Jock Galbraith, a partner at Goldcrest, said forests of its size and accessibility were rarely offered for sale in southern Scotland.
“Westwater is a best-in-class asset that exemplifies successful modern forestry with an excellent planting programme and exacting management,” he said.
Mr Galbraith added: "It is an exceptional mid-rotation crop; it is uniform, productive and vigorous. We expect it to attract serious attention from institutional and private investors alike. For a purchaser, it means a top quality forest asset with the vast majority of the value still to be realised."
The estate has an internal road network and is close to major timber markets, factors that are likely to be of interest to prospective buyers.
“The predominantly 2008 and 2009 crop has reached an attractive stage in its rotation,” Mr Galbraith said.
“The thinning permission provides a purchaser with the opportunity to generate timber income at an early stage of ownership.”
The sale comes as forestry leaders said they had “grave concern" around the Scottish Government’s proposals to merge Scottish Forestry, the agency responsible for forestry policy, support and regulations, into a 'super-agency' along with other environment organisations including NatureScot and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
First minister John Swinney described the reforms as the “most radical reshaping of public services” since the Scottish Parliament was established, saying the aim was to remove duplication and create a “decluttered public sector landscape”.
Leaders in the forestry sector, however, sent a joint letter to several senior MSPs, including rural affairs secretary Gillian Martin and the country's forestry minister Jim Fairlie, saying the potential merger gives them "grave cause for concern", writing that they are "not clear how your proposals will improve delivery".
The letter, which was signed by organisations and companies including Confor, the Woodland Trust Scotland, and the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF), added: “We are particularly concerned that any merger could result in the loss of essential forestry expertise from within the government, which would be fundamentally damaging to woodland creation in Scotland.”
The Scottish Government said further detail on the single overarching environment body, including how Scottish Forestry would function, will be provided “in due course” and that the “ambitious approach will build on the strengths of the existing bodies and retain their functions.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.