A report by the Merseyside District Valuer shows house prices in St Helens have gained £15 million thanks to the planting of trees on industrial wasteland at Bold. Before the mid 1980s, this was home to a colliery and power station, employing more than 800 local people.

The colliery’s closure in 1985 resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs and created 130 hectares of derelict land which has subsequently been planted to create a community forest. The report shows that as the trees have grown, not only have they dramatically enhanced local property values, but they have attracted £75million of fresh property investment in what was a very deprived area.

Importantly, the Valuer reached these figures after take account of all other factors that could affect house price rises. Now he is looking at six similar woodland regeneration projects across the region to see if the positive effects are repeated elsewhere.

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