Proposals for the future of the Combe Grove Estate in Bath are outlined in a woodland management plan that has been produced for the Forestry Commission.
The entrance to Combe Grove in Combe Down
There is a hotel and a leisure complex at the estate at Brassknocker Hill, with approximately 15 hectares of the grounds being mature and currently unmanaged woodland.
With a focus on the woodland’s use for recreational purposes, paths, steps and tracks will be reinstated, upgraded and waymarked.
Sites will be identified and managed for running courses and events such as forest bathing.
The plan aims to enhance the woodland’s biodiversity through careful management. The estate hopes to produce food through foraging and forest gardening in the wooded areas closest to the Manor House.
Timber production is not a primary aim but the plan says that any opportunity to generate income would be welcomed to subsidise management costs.
The estate is within the Cotswolds National Landscape and is home to a number of rare and protected species including active badger setts and bats.
There is no formal public access to the estate but staff and visitors are welcome to walk through the woodland areas for recreation and wellbeing. A local forest school has also been using part of the site known as Quarry Wood.
The estate’s vision and objectives for the woodland have been sent to Bath & North East Somerset Council for consultation.
The planning reference is 24/04096/CONSLT. The deadline for anyone wishing to comment is 21st November.
