Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of road have been constructed as a result of (a) commercial forestry and (b) windfarm developments in each of the last 10 years.
It is not possible for the Scottish Government to quantify nor confirm the total mileage of all roads constructed anywhere and by anyone for these purposes in each of the last ten years. However, on Scotland’s national forests and land, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) constructs roads for use on a multi-purpose basis e.g. timber transport, tree planting, environmental improvement works, recreational access. FLS does not hold data that ascribes a particular use to sections of forest road, nor does it hold specific data as to what lengths of road have been constructed by windfarm developers. Over the past ten years levels of forest road construction by FLS have been as follows:
2012: 46 Miles
2013: 52 Miles
2014: 43 Miles
2015: 34 Miles
2016: 37 Miles
2017: 37 Miles
2018: 44 Miles
2019: 32 Miles
2020: 27 Miles
2021: 24 Miles