Timber worth £5m stuck in roadless forest prompts clash over Uswayford extraction

In a remote corner of Northumberland, £5m worth of timber sits in Uswayford Forest unfelled, trapped by a road system that planners say cannot cope with the volume Forestry England wants to move out over the next decade. The seven-mile corridor to the village of Alwinton runs along the Upper Coquet valley on a single-track route that locals say is already treacherous in ice and snow. The timber is part of a longer-term effort to restructure Uswayford's stands, increase biodiversity and support a growing domestic timber sector, but the extraction plan has become a flashpoint for safety, finance and ecological concerns.

Getting the timber out hinges on upgrading theU4023 road and associated forest tracks, including new bridges. In 2015, estimates put the widening and strengthening at about £2m, a price tag that would fall to the indebted Northumberland County Council to fund. Today, the Alwinton Parish Council chair, Simon Taylor, says the cost would likely be much higher—"more like four or five million"—and he warns the completed route could buckle under the weight of timber lorries if not properly prepared. The local community has cited blind bends, icy patches and the prospect of vehicles meeting in a village where school buses and tourist traffic already share the narrow valley floor. Sam Wood, who lives in Upper Coquetdale, says the risk is real: “Imagine meeting a timber lorry coming down there. There are so many blind bends on this road when you just can't see what's coming. Just think of the school minibuses meeting those wagons.”

Forestry England says the work would be carried out over ten years and that the improvements would leave a lasting infrastructure legacy for locals. The agency also notes that timber harvesting and transport would enable a broader restructuring of Uswayford, including the creation of open habitats, peatland restoration and a wider mix of tree species. But even as the project moves forward, the balance sheet remains a point of contention for residents and council officials alike, who worry about both the immediate safety of a fragile road network and the longer-term appeal of the valley to visitors.

The ecological stakes are high in a forest that hosts one of England’s remaining red squirrel strongholds. The Coquetdale Squirrel Group, made up largely of pensioners who monitor and protect the species, argues that Uswayford should be left unfelled where possible. Ian Glendinning, its chair, says that if any timber extraction goes ahead in an ideal world some of Uswayford would be preserved as a red-squirrel reserve. “At the very least, I’d like to see some of it set aside for the red squirrels,” he said. Foresters acknowledge the concern and say red squirrels could move to the adjacent Kidland Forest as work progresses.

Tom Coates, supply manager for James Jones and Sons, which is investing about £70m in a new sawmill near Durham, emphasizes the economic logic of pressing ahead with Uswayford’s output. He says the forest underpins the company’s production forecasts and that Britain’s reliance on imported timber—roughly 80% of what it consumes—adds urgency to securing more homegrown material. “When we build in a new mill we look at the production forecast and where wood is going to be produced, and Uswayford was among those forests,” he said.

John Bruce, England director for the Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor), concedes that Uswayford is not ideal—"far from it"—but he cautions that the nation needs more conifer timber, not less. He points to the broader transition underway in forests, noting Confor’s involvement in the Hardknott project in the Lake District, where commercial conifers are being removed and restored to native woodland over time. Bruce adds that the nation cannot simply abandon conifers without risking a broader supply gap.

In Parliament and Whitehall, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs notes that tree planting has reached its highest rate in two decades, but officials acknowledge there is still much more to do to expand UK forests and improve access. Uswayford is already beyond the optimum felling window, and some of the harvested timber has begun to decay on the ground after storm damage. For now, however, the wood remains in situ while Northumberland County Council conducts further investigation into what improvements are needed and how to implement them.

The timing of the plan has implications beyond timber markets and road safety. Local leaders fear the multi-year project could discharge a signal to tourists and campers who flock to the Coquet valley, potentially harming a sector that contributes to the local economy during a busy season. Taylor says the project has left the valley uncertain about what will be coming down the line and when, arguing that the process could have benefited from earlier, clearer planning that would reduce disruption for residents who rely on the road for daily life.

Forestry England says delays already have negative environmental impacts and argues that the proposed road improvements would, in time, create more sustainable transport routes and living landscapes. The agency insists that the timber extraction is a necessary step to restructure Uswayford’s stands and meet broader environmental goals—while also creating rural employment in the process.

The question remains whether the economic and ecological benefits can be realized without compromising safety and the valley’s character. As Northumberland weighs the financial and logistical dimensions, residents across Upper Coquetdale—and the broader timber industry—are watching closely to see whether a feasible path forward exists that protects both people and place while keeping Britain’s timber supply secure.