AS the clock ticks towards a new year local residents are being invited to celebrate the 30th year of an area of forest and landscape that sits across the borough boundary.

The Thames Chase Community Forest is a landscape initiative which has actively transformed 40 square miles of the landscape in East London and South West Essex.

It covers an area to the north west of Thurrock, bordering with Havering.

Launched in 1990, in 2020, the Thames Chase Community Forest from tomorrow will be celebrating 30 years of landscape regeneration, transforming the green environment for the 650,000 population living through and around its boundaries.

With just six per cent of tree cover in 1990 and the loss of 16 per cent of green space to mineral extraction followed by landfill in the second half of the last century, the 48 varied sites that have been either restored or created provide local communities with access to quality green environments for health, recreation and education.

A spokesperson for the organisation behind Thames Chase says: "A great deal has been achieved in its first 30 years guided by its overall strategy, The Thames Chase Plan, with a wide range of partner organisations, particularly with the Forestry Commission, now Forestry England, who created and manage 10 of the restored woodlands open to the public.

"There is much for local families and the dedicated army of volunteers to celebrate in all that the Community Forest has achieved and we aim to make 2020 a year to remember and set the Forest on track for the next 30 years of regeneration, protection and development."

Find out more about Thames Chase via the red button below.