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On Course for Conservation

Salford Forest Park will comprise a range of new recreational and related facilities sited within a Forest Park.

Parks and open spaces are an important recreational resource, vital for enhancing the quality of people’s lives, for improving physical and mental health, and enhancing the character of the environment. Country parks, traditionally sited in urban fringe areas have an important role in providing both local, and tourist based, green space resources.

Large well managed country parks with good facilities within them make an important contribution to the tourism offer of a region, particularly those close to urban conurbations where the chance to visit large parks and gardens can provide an attractive complement to the intensity of an urban visit.

Woodlands in the countryside can be an attractive recreational resource. The planting and management of both publicly and privately owned woodlands in the UK is controlled by the Forestry Commission.

Tree coverage in the North West stands at 5.8%, the lowest of any region in England.

The Salford Forest Park site lies within the area of the Red Rose Community Forest who aim to bring existing woodland into management; open up existing woodland for recreation and access; develop recreational and sporting facilities within the Forest area; and involve the community with woods and trees in the Forest. A more specific aim of the Red Rose Forest is to introduce 25 million more trees in Manchester over the next thirty years.
Key Objectives

The key objectives for the Forest Park are:

  • To establish a range of recreational and related activities which will protect and promote the assets of the site; contribute towards and be complementary to other regional park initiatives in the Mersey Belt; and generate tourism interest.

  • To create a management framework for the estate which will secure its future as a coherent ‘place’ and enable its assets to be managed economically.

  • To create a physical environment that provides for the range of proposed activities and enhances the character of the site.

  • To enable appropriate and well managed public access to, and interpretation of, the assets of the site.