Emergency Tree Plan

Chorley Borough is semi-rural covering 80 square miles of land (20,700ha). In the past it was a mining and mill area and there are still remnants of that industrial heritage including chimneys, mill buildings, capped mine shafts and open quarries. Much of the valleys of the River Yarrow, Black Brook and River Chor remain wooded along with other tributaries that flow into the River Lostock and River Douglas. Indeed Chorley Borough retains the greatest proportion of ancient woodland by area of any Lancashire authority. These valleys are thankfully largely protected from built development and clearance for agriculture by their steep topography. In the 1970s through to the 1990s much of Chorley Borough went under urban development as part of the New Town Commission Project. As those new housing estates and roads were built , much of the associated land was planted with shelterbelts. Chorley Council is very honored to be the custodian of much of this land in the guise of Yarrow Valley Country Park, Astley Park, Claytonle-Woods, Eaves Green and Astley Village to name just a few areas. Cuerden Valley Park was set aside as public open space managed by a specially created charitable trust. The ancient woodlands, shelterbelts and hedgerows in Chorley need to be protected and enhanced with new planting or natural generation being encouraged in the appropriate locations to create a better, bigger and more joined up woodland network.