Mon3rdJan Hands off Our Forest rally Forest of Dean

Fri Dec 17 13:04:10 GMT 2010

MAJOR HOOF RALLY
  http://www.handsoffourforest.org/

Monday 3 January - Speech House
Meet Woodlands car park 12.30 - Rally in Speech House field 1.00
Please try to be there and make this a huge show of strength.
Not For Sale posters are springing up all over 
the Forest of Dean. You can find out how to obtain one for your area here

Questions and Answers by Nigel Costley

The Forest of Dean community is alarmed at the 
prospect of the Government selling off the Forest 
of Dean. Hands off our Forest (HOOF) is the 
campaign group fighting the proposals. It is a 
broad alliance of groups and individuals.Many 
people are asking what the consequences of a 
sell-off will be for the Forest of Dean and 
uncertainty will remain for some time unless the 
Bill is amended.This guide is designed to answer 
some of the questions being asked. Read on.....

Q Whats all the fuss about?
A The Coalition Government is pushing through a 
Public Bodies Bill that will, according to the 
Minister, fundamentally reform the public 
forestry estate, with diminishing public 
ownership and a greater role for private and 
civil society partners. This means selling 
Forestry Commission land including the Forest of Dean.

Q Surely the Forest is protected by a Royal Charter and age-old rights?
A These will be over-ridden by the new law.

Q But isnt the Forest of Dean protected under a special 1981 exemption?
A An exemption clause was agreed in 1981 after 
the previous campaign to protect the Forest of 
Dean. This clause will be removed under the current proposals.

Q When will this happen?
A The Public Bodies Bill is being rushed through 
Parliament over the winter and may receive Assent in the middle of 2011

Q Was thismentioned in the election? I dont remember voting for it!
A You didnt! It wasnt in either the 
Conservative or Liberal Democrat manifestoes. It 
wasnt mentioned in the Coalition Agreement that 
formed the Government.The news was leaked toThe Daily Telegraph.

Q Why are they doing this?
A Local MP,Mark Harper, believes this will shift 
the balance of power fromBig Government to 
Big Society by giving individuals, businesses, 
civil society organisations and local authorities 
a bigger role in protecting the natural 
environment and a much bigger say about our 
priorities for it. Others fear it is to privatise our forests.

Q So its not about reducing the deficit and savingmoney.
A The Forestry Commission is very good value for 
money.Around £3 million is spent on managing the 
Forest of Dean and over £2 million raised in 
timber sales, car parking, permissions and rents. 
Not much revenue costs would be saved by any 
privatisation but cash could be raised depending 
upon potential buyers and whether they can turn 
this loss into a lucrative profit by changing the land use.

Q Could costs be cut in the way the Forest is managed?
A The Forestry Commission has a team of 
professional staff who understand woodland 
management, bio-diversity and the maintenance of 
a public amenity. It does a good job in the 
Forest of Dean and costs could only be cut by 
reducing the level of maintenance or by restricting public access.

Q How could income be increased?
A Potential buyers might seek to raise income 
from the land through increased hunting and 
shooting, raising fees for fishing and other 
uses. Various different leisure pursuits such as 
off-road driving and extreme adventure activities could be developed.

Q Could the land be built on for housing?
A Unlikely but some speculators may buy land with 
a long-term view to development.The heritage of 
the Forest of Dean is of scattered dwellings 
throughout the Forest. Some potential buyers may 
hope that future planning regulations will allow for house building.

Q Couldmoremoney bemade fromtimber production?
A The mixed plantations of the Forest of Dean 
make it the special place it is. Few would want 
to see massed ranks of conifers and this would be 
bad news for bio-diversity and public access.The 
Government says that tree felling would continue to

Q So its not about reducing the deficit and savingmoney.
A The Forestry Commission is very good value for 
money.Around £3 million is spent on managing the 
Forest of Dean and over £2 million raised in 
timber sales, car parking, permissions and rents. 
Not much revenue costs would be saved by any 
privatisation but cash could be raised depending 
upon potential buyers and whether they can turn 
this loss into a lucrative profit by changing the land use.

Q Could costs be cut in the way the Forest is managed?
A The Forestry Commission has a team of 
professional staff who understand woodland 
management, bio-diversity and the maintenance of 
a public amenity. It does a good job in the 
Forest of Dean and costs could only be cut by 
reducing the level of maintenance or by restricting public access.

Q How could income be increased?
A Potential buyers might seek to raise income 
from the land through increased hunting and 
shooting, raising fees for fishing and other 
uses. Various different leisure pursuits such as 
off-road driving and extreme adventure activities could be developed.

Q Could the land be built on for housing?
AUnlikely but some speculators may buy land with 
a long-term view to development.The heritage of 
the Forest of Dean is of scattered dwellings 
throughout the Forest. Some potential buyers may 
hope that future planning regulations will allow for house building.

Q Couldmoremoney bemade fromtimber production?
A The mixed plantations of the Forest of Dean 
make it the special place it is. Few would want 
to see massed ranks of conifers and this would be 
bad news for bio-diversity and public access.The 
Government says that tree felling would continue 
to be controlled through the licensing system 
managed by the slimmed-down Forestry 
Commission.There is not much profit to be made in 
small forests in the south of Britain and it 
seems unlikely that big commercial logging 
companies will invest much unless the rules were relaxed significantly.

Q Could private firmsmakemoney fromthe coal reserves?
A The Forest of Dean is still rich with coal 
close to the surface.The most profitable way to 
extract it would be through strip-mining or open 
cast quarrying, a process that would devastate the valleys where the coal lies.

Q Will public access be protected after a sale?
A The Government says that public rights of way 
and access will be unaffected. But the Forest of 
Dean has very few designated Rights ofWay. 
Instead the Forestry Commission provides 
permissive access to the Forest. This access has 
to be managed including appropriate parking 
facilities, gates, walks, etc. It is hard to 
imagine how this could be guaranteed under new and different owners.

Q Wont local planning rules protect the Forest of Dean?
A What do you think?

Q What will happen to Forestry Commission staff.
A Some 49 jobs are at risk from the sell-off of 
the Forest.These are specialists in managing the 
woodland as a public asset.The trade unions will 
fight the sell-off and to protect the jobs.There 
may be complex legal arguments over transfer of staff to new owners.

Q Could whats left of the Forestry Commission be privatised?
A Yes!

Q Could a not-for-profit, community organisation 
buy and run the Forest of Dean?
A Some individuals could club together to buy 
land if they wished under these plans. They would 
own an operation that currently relies on public 
support so they would have to find ways to cut 
costs or raise income.They would not be accountable to anyone but themselves.

Q Wouldnt a local charity be better than the 
Forestry Commission at looking after the Forest?
A The charity would need to raise the cash to buy 
the   land in competition with private bidders. 
It would need to raise the £500,000 to £800,000 a 
year running costs or change the way the Forest 
is now to make ends meet. It would face 
additional costs such as Public Liability 
Insurance that is currently covered by the government.

Q Could the Government guarantee that a local 
charity won any bid to sell the Forest?
A Such a move would almost certainly be unlawful.

Q What if such a charity failed?
A It would have to sell out to a private concern.

Q Could the Local Authority take it over?
A The Forest of Dean Council does not have the 
cash to buy the Forest and may be prevented from 
doing so by national government in any event.

Q What about bodies like the NationalTrust, RSPB orWoodlandTrust?
A These are charities that rely on public 
donations, membership subscriptions and entrance 
fees.They are facing difficult times themselves 
and it is hard to see how they could afford such 
a purchase.They are accountable to their members.

Q What can we do to stop it?
A Protest! Support the Hands off our Forest 
campaign. Sign the petition, display a poster, 
write to Mark Harper MP, House of Commons, London 
SW1A 0AA phone 01594 823482 The previous 
Conservative MP said that the Forest would be 
sold over his dead body.Mark Harper says: I 
believe that your MP should be the voice of the 
Forest of Dean inWestminster, notWestminster's 
voice in the Forest of Dean. The people of the 
Dean will judge whether his lives up to this claim.
+44 (0)7786 952037
http://tonygosling.blip.tv/
http://www.thisweek.org.uk/
http://www.911forum.org.uk/
"Capitalism is institutionalised bribery."
_________________
www.abolishwar.org.uk
<http://www.elementary.org.uk>www.elementary.org.uk
www.public-interest.co.uk
www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Bristol+Broadband+Co-operative
<http://utangente.free.fr/2003/media2003.pdf>http://utangente.free.fr/2003/media2003.pdf 

"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic 
poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
<https://217.72.179.7/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/>https://217.72.179.7/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/