Forests may be in peril again - Govt publish new proposals on English Forests

[mark at tlio.org.uk]

Taken from: http://www.handsoffourforest.org/

Posted 10th July 2013

After 3 years of protest and a major independent report, The 
Government has published its initial proposals for managing England's 
public forests.

Hands Off Our Forests (HOOF) have looked at these proposals - and we 
do not like what we have seen.

If these plans are implented without amendment, the Government will be 
throwing away the report's model of a non-political body of guardians 
to safeguard the English forests for the people. They seem determined 
to implement their original version of privatisation and put the 
Secretary of State in total control.

When the Government asked the Bishop of Liverpool and his panel to 
prepare a report into how England's public forests should be managed, 
it said it would abide by the report, whatever it's outcome.

Read below and you decide whether they intend to abide by the 
report...

The Independent Report said: A board of independent Guardians should 
safeguard the future of the English public Forests
Government are proposing: The Guardians' role to be subjugated to 
"advisory" only, with no powers to alter anything
  
The Independent Report said: Forests to be run on a day to day basis 
by a Board of Directors who answer to the Guardians
Government are proposing: Directors to set policy including whether 
private companies or charities can run aspects of the forests

The Independent Report said: Guardians and Directors to be free from 
political pressure so they can keep the forests safe for everyone
Government are proposing: Directors and Guardians to be appointed by 
and directly answerable to the Secretary of State

  

HOOF are demanding talks with the Ministers involved and we will let 
you know how they go as soon as we can.

  

The Government are saying "It will be alright. Trust us"

WELL DO YOU?

We won before and we will win again, and unless they are prepared to 
alter their proposals the only losers will be the present coalition 
government when the nation realises they cannot be trusted with our 
precious forests.


  
Posted on 8th July 2013:

Here we go again!

When HOOF, back in February, broadly welcomed the Government's 
response to the Forestry Panel Report, we said at the time that the 
devil would be in the detail.

We now know that the detail is very devilish indeed.

Far from embracing the forestry panel's recommendation to put the 
English forests into the hands of a body of independent, non-political 
guardians, thus safeguarding them for the foreseeable future, the 
Government proposals make it clear they want a minister to have total 
control. How is this different from the original ill-fated Public 
Bodies bill that we all helped smash?

Not only will this unleash the spectre of privatisation once again, 
but it will leave the forests, and the Forest of Dean, prey to the 
whim of whatever government is in power.

The Government has a chance to do the decent, fair and moral thing by 
putting our forests out of the reach of the greedy and unscrupulous, 
but I'm afraid at the moment it looks like it is going to blow it.

That is why HOOF is meeting as a matter of urgency and why we must all 
keep up the pressure on the government to abide by their word and do 
the right thing.
[end]


Background:

After the government was forced to do a u-turn on selling off 
Britain's woodlands, they set up a forests panel to help decide what 
to do next. Their consultation ended on 31st July 2011. This was 
TLIO's response: http://www.tlio.org.uk/forestsell-off_latest

In it, they recommended that forests in England & Wales should remain 
in public-ownership.
Report here: 
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/121049
  The Government finally announced their response to this report on 
31st Jan.
See : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21275432