Rural Payments and Services

This is for the installation of a wooden bench without backrest.

Your Woods In and Around Towns Operational Plan map must clearly identify where the timber bench will be positioned.

Seats provide useful resting places for elderly and disabled people and those with mobility difficulties. This is especially important in the countryside where path surfaces may not be as good as in urban areas, the ground may be uneven and there are more likely to be ramps or steps.

Seats or resting points are most useful at the top and bottom of slopes and at intervals along more difficult or arduous sections of path. Seating is best set back from the main route so that it does not pose an obstacle, but care should be taken that it is still readily accessible and, where possible, is on the same level as the path.

The surface around seating and picnic tables should be firm, stable and flush with the path.

Timber bench:

• seat should be planed and round-edged, and free draining, with galvanised screws or bolts countersunk
• main legs should be sturdy, a minimum of 100x100 millimetre section if timber, in holes backfilled with well-rammed earth and stones, plus concrete if required, and with larger rocks wedged at toe and heel of the upright to prevent movement
• height of the seat should be between 550 and 750 millimetres above a firm, level surface

The timber must be sourced from a sustainable timber producer and be treated. Alternative materials (recycled plastic or galvanised steel) may be used if appropriate (must be agreed with Forestry Commission Scotland in advance) and of a higher overall specification than the standard described above.

Please ensure you abide by conditions set out in the Forestry Grant Scheme claim form and guidance.

Countryside Access Design Guide – Timber Bench

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