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.
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