MP warned she could lose seat over forest sales
Posted by Ellee on Feb 13, 2011 in Blog, News | 11 commentsAn Englishman’s home might be his castle, but he also feels very defensive about his countryside – and forests – as recent outrage has shown following government plans to sell off some of its woodland.
As a keen rambler whose walks often include forests, bluebell woods and sheltered glades, I add my voice to those who have expressed concern. On the one hand ramblers are close to celebrating the opening of the first England Coast Path around England, while at the same time fearing the loss of forests to walk through freely. It’s the issue of access which is of greatest concern rather than ownership as walking through forests is not only a great joy, but also perceived as a natural right for all country lovers, particularly if they are presently accessible. I have enjoyed walks in the Forest of Dean and spent hours Thetford Forest with my family when they were young and is on our doorstep; it is a hugely popular attraction in East Anglia.
I feel sorry for Conservative MPs who have to defend this proposal and may even share the same concerns – especially if they have been warned they could lose their parliamentary seat over it.. Theresa Coffey recently faced the wrath of protesters over these plans in her constituency. The East Anglian Daily Times reported how the hall was “packed to the rafters” and nearly 150 people were left standing outside in the cold because they could not get inside the room. They signed an on-the-spot petition demanding another meeting with their MP, which Dr Coffey has said she is happy to have.
They made their strong views very plain to the Suffolk Coastal MP, and warned she could lose her seat if she did not support them. According to the East Anglian….:
The heated meeting was attended by a range of woodland users from ramblers, mountain bikers and horse riders through to professional foresters, wildlife enthusiasts and dog walkers.
There were passionate calls for the forests to be left alone and fierce criticism of the proposals – with particular fears over what would happen to public access should they fall into private hands.
Those who attended made it very clear that they expected Dr Coffey to represent their views in Parliament and to not tow the party line – or run the risk of losing her seat.
It’s the kind of fierce public reaction witnessed when there are fears of a gypsy encampment or incinerator being built within the midst of an outraged community. This plan has pierced the very heart of grassroot Tories too, according to this Daily Telegraph report. Let’s hope the message gets through…
Pic: Courtesy of the Daily Telegraph.
Theresa’s job should be safe
The government has changed its mind over this. Thank you for listening!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/17/us-britain-forests-idUSTRE71G43A20110217
@ dissaffected: Theres an awful lot of rubbish been written and said about the ” sell ” off.
*Ain’t that the truth!
The Forestry Commission only own 18% of the forests and the ” heritage ” ones such as the Forest of Dean are not to be included.
*You are right, Heritage forests won’t be sold off, but given away to charitable trusts that know next to nothing about forestry and recreation compared to the FC, to top that we will still have to pay for the upkeep.
There are to be strict rules laid down ( if it goes ahead which it will ) for access.
*The mantra they constantly repeat is that they will protect public rights of way. Given that there are none for cyclists and horseriders other than bridleways, and of which there are precious few. What specifically are they doing to protect the right of access for groups who don’t currently have a statutory right of access? Previous expereince shows that private land owners fence the property in, close car parks and generally make access as difficult as possible whilst not actually denying it. Precisely what protections are there to prevent that happening again? Given that 82% of all UK forests are already privately owned, why then is it that there is next to no public access to existing private forests for anyone other than walkers, and what can they point to in their proposals that gives ongoing cast iron guarantees of access when its 100% private?
Spent much time in what’s left of our beautiful forests lately dissaffected?
…………….thought not. Evidently there are many that have, grizzled grey beards included. Believe me, there is no quick buck to be made by selling off our forests. If the sell-off is to go through, as you say, the estimated revenue amounts to around £655m, how much will this cost to implement? Only an estimated £675m. Bargain eh?
(Before I finish I’d just like to say cheers to my friend G, ;P )
Ellee: I agree with Captain Picard after carefully reading this post twice.
K2 , if we worked on your view of the world then in fact we should immediately nationalise all farm land and turn it into Russian type collective farms with obligatory picnic areas .
The 18 % of the forests that the Forestry Commission control are a working business the main thrust of which is to produce wood , its not firstly to provide nature trails for the masses ( though this does and will continue to happen who ever gets the lease , its part of the deal )
Off topic:
Colin Firth could make the hugest and most positive of impacts on green issues by accepting his Oscar by video link.
Will he make this simple gesture ? Or is he just a hypocrite like the rest of those who think that being green should only apply to the little people ?
Judging by his obviously affected humility at the Bafta awards I suspect he’s as fake as Bono.
Theres an awful lot of rubbish been written and said about the ” sell ” off .
The Forestry Commission only own 18% of the forests and the ” heritage ” ones such as the Forest of Dean are not to be included .
The sale will not be freehold but on leases , so what needs consideration is, is it best for the gov in the shape of the Forestry Comm to control the sale of the wood or private investors .
There are to be strict rules laid down ( if it goes ahead which it will ) for access , management of habitat and wildlife etc.
I really dont see a problem here just a few of the grizzeld grey beards ( humans such as David Bellamy ) getting their knickers in a twist , as usual !
Dont talk to me about Gypsy camps.
This cuts right across a very long tradition, accepted by most, about ramblers’ access. It’s a very English thing. To sell off like this could wreck everything.
DC et al should have thought this through properly beforehand – yet another u-turn simply lessens their credibility
It shows how deep we’re in it. The Tories would have known how unpopular this move would turn out.
This is a touchy subject. The government will run into a lot of opposition over this and cause problems for themselves
why the hell sell off forests of all things
and does the govt actually have the constitutional right to sell off stuff held in effect in trust for the people
i was all for maggie’s privatizations in the 80s, but now see them as glorified national theft and fraud. selling something that already belongs to you back at a price ~ why isn’t the woman still in jail to this day?
anyone else who stole untold billions of pounds would get a really long sentence. far longer than you get for robbing an old lady of her life savings