Owners of small woodland in the East of England may soon be able to sell timber to a ready marketplace. The boost has come via a new energy charter announced by Energy Minister, Lord Hunt.

The charter proposes a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) says would bring market outlets to the owners of thousands of acres of woodlands and forests across the region. The organisation has been lobbying government for just such an incentive.

Nicola Currie, CLA eastern region director, said: “Providing it is set at the right level, the RHI should make it attractive for householders and businesses to install wood burning boilers, as well as solar and ground source heating, particularly in rural areas where no natural gas supply is available.

“The installation of what we hope will be many thousands of wood burning boilers will provide local markets for woodfuel. In turn this should make sustainable woodland management profitable for the first time in a generation for the many small woodland owners throughout our region.”

Currie added: “Our six counties are not automatically perceived as being forested but there is plenty of timber. What we have been lacking are the markets.

“We have been lobbying the Government to provide the necessary incentive – and at last it has come a bit closer. It could lead to genuine economic opportunities which would underpin many other benefits for rural businesses and communities.”

RHI is an income support designed to provide an incentive to invest in and use renewable heat to replace oil or other fossil fuels. Its proposals would award a guaranteed payment per unit of heat generated and used – the costs of this carbon saving to be met by a small additional cost on heating bills for those who continue to use carbon emitting heating.

The Green Energy Charter comes from the Sustainable Energy Partnership of which the CLA is a partner. It will be sent to all parliamentarians and prospective MPs.

“Green energy is a hugely important issue and will only become more so in the future. By creating this charter, the partnership hopes that decision-makers will use it as a platform for debate and heed the advice,” says Currie.

The charter also proposes a national programme to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016 as well as, among others, more rigorous enforcement of building regulations to meet green energy targets.