Forests - Friday 28 January 2011

I have had a lot of residents contact me about the Government’s plans to improve the way we run our forests.

As a farmer myself I can assure you all that I fully understand the importance of ensuring the future welfare of our forests. I value greatly the ability of current and future generations to have access to one of our country’s greatest natural assets. I have lived in Sherwood all my life and know firsthand how lucky we are to have our local forests.

On hearing the various concerns of constituents, I challenged Caroline Spelman MP, the Minister responsible for forests, before the Environmental Audit Committee to guarantee that Sherwood Forest will be safeguarded and I have been assured that the Government will not compromise the protection of our valuable and biodiverse forests. Full measures will remain in place to preserve the public benefits of woods and forests under any new ownership arrangements.

Furthermore I can assure you that Sherwood Forest is not for sale. Our forest, like the Forest of Dean and the New Forest, as part of our ancient woodland, are not owned by the Forestry Commission and therefore cannot be sold. The County Council is still working hard to promote Robin Hood and Sherwood, recognising them to be among the Crown Jewels of England’s forestry.

When approaching these changes we have to remember that Labour had sold off 25,000 acres of forest with far less stringent protections on public access than those we will introduce and were known to be considering similar proposals themselves. We will ensure woodland used by local communities continues to be available.

Rest assured that this Government, with my full support, will protect our forests better than ever before. Forests will not be tarmaced-over, shopping centres will not be built and private individuals will not be able to restrict access. Instead local communities and individuals who care about our environment will be empowered to look after forests in the way that they see fit whilst being supervised rather than managed by the Government. Yes this will also save money.

The Government’s changes will:
• Offer first refusal to community groups or civil society organisations in sales of local woodland
• Enshrine in law the commitment that no Heritage Forests such as the New Forest or Forest of Dean, can be sold to the private sector
• Guarantee access and benefits in any sales of commercial forests by only selling land on a leasehold basis
• Prevent the sale of any site in which more than 10 per cent are Planted Ancient Woodlands.

The Government has published a consultation paper which sets out a range of options for ownership or management of the forests in England which are currently run by the Forestry Commission. The Commission is currently responsible for a fifth of England’s woodlands. The consultation itself can be found at this web-link www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm and I would strongly encourage you to take part in this process.

The consultation has been shaped by these over-riding principles:
• To protect and enhance biodiversity
• To maintain public access for recreation and leisure for activities such as horse riding and cycling;
• To ensure the continuing role of the woodlands in climate change mitigation
• To protect nationally important landscapes.

I would strongly encourage you to take part in the consultation process by writing to DEFRA. The Government’s response to this will be published in the summer.

Blog Update Tuesday 7th December 2010

I know its been a while since my last blog I suppose you can take that as a good sign, its been a very busy few weeks!

Over the last few months I have received many emails from lots of you about the Daylight Savings Bill. This issue has split peoples opinions right down the middle. The House of Commons voted today on the Bill and it was passed by 92 votes to 10 meaning that it will now progress to the Committee Stage. The bill requires the government to launch an inquiry into the benefits of moving clocks forward by an hour throughout the year, and has received widespread support from road safety, environmental, tourism and sports groups. Even if the bill passes, however, Scottish opposition could scupper it in the long run, as they have done on previous occasions.

We have now truly entered the festive season I having been to turn on the Christmas lights in Lambley which was a great privilege. It was nice to see the enthusiasm of all those who came especially amongst the younger generations. This event took me back to when I was a youngster watching the lights being turned on which made me all the more proud to be doing it myself now.

The snow has been a nightmare for many of you and Ive been receiving regular snow report updates from the County. The weekend saw a bit of a thaw but I suspect we havent seen the last of it!

Last week I launched a campaign called Heart of Hucknall in order to help support our local shops which have been an important part of the town for generations. Our local shops provide an invaluable service and are a resource we often overlook in favour of the convenience of a supermarket. Hucknalls high street is under constant pressure from large out of town competitors and I think we need to make a real effort to support them.

A good and bustling high street is the heart of a town like ours and if we dont support local shops, cafes and businesses there is no doubt that in these tough economic times, we will lose them forever.That's why I am launching the Heart of Hucknall Campaign to support our local shops. Over the coming weeks Ill be asking the people of Hucknall to nominate their favourite small shop hairdressers, takeaways, grocers anyone you think has contributed an exceptional service to Hucknall. You can nominate by emailing HeartofHucknall@gmail.com.

On Tuesday I attended a session hosted by Energy Fit on helping constituents become more energy efficient, saving energy and money as we approach winter. It is a little known fact that 26% of UK carbon emissions come from the energy we use in our own homes and that we use more energy heating our homes in the UK than in Sweden, even though winter temperatures are much colder there. For those interested I suggest you take a look at the new online tool www.eonenergyfit.com

I very much enjoyed meeting students at West Notts College where I answered questions from students on a range of subjects from tuition fees to increasing job opportunities across the County. It was great to meet the students, whilst the questions where quite a challenge, it was good to discuss a large range of subjects and exchange views about both their careers and the countrys current predicament.

Most families will all be coming together at Christmas but for some coming home isn't an option at the moment. For our brave troops I recorded a Christmas message as part of the Faces for the Forces Campaign organised through Winkball. All our service men and women are doing a sterling job around the world and it was great to see so many of my Westminster colleagues coming together to wish them well.

Well I think that will do for one week but if there's anything you need to discuss or if you need to make an appointment, please do not hesitate to get in touch: 0115-968 1186.