PARISH councillors and residents of two Exmoor villages have been offered a tour of forestry work to help them understand future management plans.

The group will be drawn from Wootton Courtenay and Timberscombe, which are close to Wootton Ridge, which includes parts of Grabbist Hill, Alcombe Common, and Hopcott Common.

A public consultation was recently carried out to help inform long-term plans for more joined up management of the open areas of grassland and heathland.

The land has five different owners, including Forestry England, the National Trust, and Minehead Town Council, for whom the consultation was carried out along with Butterfly Conservation.

Forestry England’s Exmoor and Quantocks forester John Ebsary will provide villagers with a site visit on October 5.

Mr Ebsary will explain Forestry England’s plans for the ongoing management of Wootton Ridge.

Up to 16 people from Wootton Courtenay and Timberscombe parishes can attend, but they will have to be prepared for a two-and-a-half-mile walk after meeting at Wootton’s All Saints’ Church.

Anybody who would like to take part should email Timberscombe Parish Council chairman Cllr Katy Attwater at [email protected].

The public consultation was carried out by Footprint Ecology, whose spokeswoman Emma Bishop said Wootton Ridge was important for its ecological, landscape, and historical interest.

Ms Bishop said changes over the years to the site were negatively impacting important animal and plant species and risked some rarer and more specialised species being lost.