Forestry Update & Newsletter

I would like to thank Caroline Spelman MP, the Minister responsible for the recent consultation on the future of our forests, who today showed that she listened to the people of Sherwood. Having undertaken an extensive consultation on the future of our forests and listened to the views of both the public and various organisations, it was clear to Government that there were serious and widespread concerns about the proposed changes and the consultation has accordingly been brought to an end.

In addition, the Minister announced that the Government will remove the forestry clauses from the Public Bodies Bill which is currently at committee stage and that an independent panel will be established to consider forestry policy in England, due to report in autumn.

Speaking in the Commons today, I thanked the Secretary of State for listening to me and the people of Sherwood over the last month and encouraged her to take no lessons from the Labour party who, whilst in Government, sold of an area of woodland greater than the size of the city of Nottingham. I also asked whether the Minister agreed that this was an opportunity to increase the biodiversity of Nottinghamshire’s woodlands and increase the number of deciduous trees like broad oaks in the coniferous woods that were under consultation.

There is no doubt that this issue has generated a great deal of discussion and I think that’s a good thing. We should never take our woods for granted and I hope the publicity around this will get more people to use our forests.

I believe that the Minister’s decision to call to an end the consultation is a brave one: this was always a genuine discussion with the public and I applaud Caroline for being able to come forward and act on what the public wants. Government’s priority is to secure a sustainable future for our woodlands and forests and we must ensure that this is done in a way the public agrees with. I think there is an obvious comparison to be drawn between this truly interactive consultation and the sham consultation carried out by Labour over the savage Post Office closures.

My recent newsletter can be viewed in full here:
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a35565f73e90181bec1a65eb4&id=8491dd3219