THE landscape of a large part of north Durham is to change forever after councillors agreed last night that it could become part of a major forest extension.

Derwentside District Council decided to accept an invitation from the Great North Forest Partnership (GNFP) to plant about 20 square miles of trees in the countryside around Stanley.

Now the GNFP, which has already planted about 60 square miles of trees, stretching from Durham to Sunderland, and along the North-East coast, is considering extending the forest in the Seaham area.

Derwentside council will contribute £15,000 a year to the GNFP to help manage the site, and will become a full member of the partnership in April.

The council has already planted trees in the area in anticipation of the development, and planting will increase next year.

The forest will be extended from the Gateshead area down to Leadgate, near Consett, and across to the Annfield Plain and Stanley area.

It will eventually end at Burnhope, near Lanchester.

GNFP project director John Vaughan said: "This will be a sizeable addition and will give us a new lease of life. Derwentside council has been trying to become involved with this for a long time.

"When you consider that the landscape will be changed forever, and that it will significantly improve local people's quality of life, it is no surprise.

"It will be a dramatic transition, and it represents a relatively cheap way of improving the environment."

Executive member for sustainable development at Derwentside council, Councillor Joe Toner, said: "This represents a major success for this authority to seize a one-off opportunity to include a significant part of the district in this major environmental initiative."

The Great North Forest Partnership, which was launched ten years ago, and is the oldest project of its type in England, aims to cover up to 20,000 acres in the North-East over the next 40 years.