North Yorkshire Council will join a Woodland Trust bid to fund two new Nidderdale woodland posts. The bid is due this month, and no grant has been awarded.

North Yorkshire Council has agreed to join a bid for £201,061 of National Lottery money to start restoring ancient woodland in Nidderdale. The Woodland Trust is leading the bid, which is due to go in this month.

The council’s Corporate Director of Environment approved the decision on 28 October. No grant has been awarded yet.

Ancient woodland means woods that have existed continuously since at least 1600. The report says Nidderdale National Landscape holds a significant amount of it. It also says the team has not had the resources to manage it on the scale needed.

What the money would pay for

This first bid would fund two years of groundwork, not the restoration itself. In Nidderdale it would pay for:

  • a full-time woodland officer on a fixed-term contract
  • an engagement officer, four days a week, also fixed term
  • woodland surveys by contractors
  • work with woodland owners on restoration and options for managing deer

Those plans would then feed into a second, larger bid to pay for the restoration. The council says joining now does not commit it to that later stage.

The figures

Year 1 (Apr 2027 to Mar 2028) Year 2 (Apr 2028 to Mar 2029) Total
Lottery grant £71,049 £130,012 £201,061
Council match funding £12,538 £22,944 £35,482
Nidderdale budget £83,587 £152,956 £236,543

The Lottery would cover 85% of that. The council’s share would come from the core grant the National Landscape team receives from Defra.

Across the whole partnership, the bid is worth £643,746 over two years. The other partners are the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the White Rose Forest, which is hosted by Kirklees Council.

What it means for you

  • If you own woodland in Nidderdale, expect the new officers to get in touch if the bid succeeds. The report says they would work directly with owners.
  • If you walk in the dale, nothing changes yet. The first two years are about mapping, surveying and planning.
  • If you are looking for work, the two posts depend on the grant. The budget starts in April 2027.