Outdoor learning venture for Fife woodland approved
Councillors have given the go-ahead to a change to woodland in Fife for an outdoor learning business.
They approved an application from Louise Licznerski of Little Bugs Limited to create the venture at Chancefield, Falkland.
It will offer outdoor learning experiences for children aged two to eight with the woodland itself forming the primary learning environment.
A supporting statement said: “No permanent buildings are proposed, and the use is intentionally low impact, with activities designed to work in harmony with the existing landscape and woodland setting.”
Councillors gave the go ahead for a maximum of 42 children and seven members of staff at any one time, and it will operate between 8:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Friday.
The statement added: “The proposal builds upon the applicant's extensive experience in delivering high-quality outdoor education across two established outdoor educational settings elsewhere in central Scotland. These settings provide nature-based learning for children throughout the year, where the natural environment forms the primary learning space. This experience has demonstrated that high-quality early years and primary-age education can be successfully delivered within woodland environments while maintaining strong educational outcomes, environmental stewardship and responsible site management.”
The woodland is home to WilderWays, which delivers woodland-based learning programmes that encourage children and young people to develop confidence, resilience and environmental awareness, and also contains the Woodland Hub, which supports educational and community activities associated with the wider Falkland Estate.
The report added: “Collectively, these existing activities demonstrate that outdoor education is already an integral characteristic of Chancefield Woodland. The proposal does not introduce a fundamentally new land use into the woodland.
“Rather, it seeks to provide a dedicated area from which outdoor education can be delivered for children, complementing and building upon the educational activities that have been taking place across the wider woodland for many years.”
The applicant had the support of Falkland Estate which had met with the Little Bugs team .
It said it represented an “excellent opportunity to bring a currently underutilised part of the estate back into meaningful use and to establish a high-quality educational facility which aligns extremely well with our long-standing commitment to education, environmental stewardship, woodland, sustainability and community engagement.”