Timber sector organisations have welcomed the Government’s new commitment to the Timber in Construction Roadmap following an important summit in central London.
New, ambitious plans to increase the use of timber in construction to boost the domestic timber industry, economic growth, rural jobs and housebuilding targets, were announced by UK Environment Minister Mary Creagh at the Timber in Construction (TiC) Summit in London on February 27.
Responding to the announcement, the Secretariat for the Timber in Construction Roadmap – Timber Development UK (TDUK), Confor and the Structural Timber Association –welcomed the announcement, including the addition of more stretching targets and a clearer focus on helping the Government deliver on its commitment to building 1.5 million homes during the next Parliament.
“The Government’s commitment to the Timber in Construction Roadmap is a real boost to the low-carbon construction sector,” said David Hopkins, CEO of TDUK.
“We have a great opportunity to increase our housing stock while growing our forests and reducing our emissions output. As a bio-based industrial supply chain, the timber sector can play a unique role in the low-carbon economy – sequestering emissions in the forest and storing them in our buildings.
Stuart Goodall, chief executive of Confor, welcomed the roadmap’s focus on increasing productive forestry and on promoting the use of homegrown wood-based construction products.
“Both of these actions will make an important contribution to achieving the UK’s net zero target and economic growth,” he said.
Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of the Structural Timber Association, described the move as a “substantial step forward”.
“Increasing the use of structural timber and offsite manufacturing is one of the most effective ways of ensuring the rapid and high-quality delivery of these vitally needed homes, while also meeting urgent decarbonisation obligations,” he said.
To see more about the Government’s announcement, read TTJ’s earlier news story HERE.
