Mr. Kevin Collins:

I will answer without prejudice to the work of Project Woodland and the review the Minister of State has mentioned. Thinning and the development of roads are both included within the Forestry Act 2014 because they are very distinct interventions within the life cycle of the forest. They are both essential to increasing the value of the forest but I have seen an example of what might have been considered to be a benign thinning operation leading to a massive impact on a highly protected species in a nearby watercourse. Both are significant interventions involving machinery and, potentially, the crossing of water or the disturbance of protected species. Under the current structure, and without prejudice to the work of Project Woodland, it is very hard to see how we can move away from the continued separate licensing of both of these activities.