Several luminaries, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, have joined the campaign to stop the sell-off of Britain’s state-owned forests
FORESTS ARE the single most used recreation area in Britain, with 40 million people a year using their amenities for walking, cycling and camping.
Now, many fear gates and fences will put a stop to their rambling at the heart of mother nature.
The British government had decided to sell off 15 per cent of the forestry commission’s extensive landholdings – the most it can sell without the sanction of the Houses of Parliament.
Now, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition – but mostly the Conservative wing – wants to put the remaining 85 per cent on the market, once consultations are completed. Opponents, however, believe the consultation to be a sham.
In a letter yesterday to the organ of middle England, the Daily Telegraph,100 well-known names, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams; authors Michael Frayn and Joanna Trollope; singer Annie Lennox and explorer Ranulph Fiennes all said No.
They said a sell-off was wrong and warned that just 18 per cent of British forestry was state- controlled. They wrote: “We, who love, use and share the English forests, believe that such a sale would be misjudged and short-sighted.” They went on: “Only 18 per cent of English woodland remains under state protection for the benefit of the public. It is our national heritage. We are an island nation, yet more people escape to the forest than to the seaside.
“Our forests nurture countless species of native plants and wildlife. We have relied on them since time immemorial, yet we are only a heartbeat in their history,” said the 100 signatories, many of whom are influential opinion-formers.
“We, the undersigned, believe it unconscionable that future generations will no longer enjoy the guarantee of a public forest estate,” they added, before complaining the decision to auction 15 per cent of the forests had been taken “without our permission”.
Declarations that all will be well and nothing will be changed are not believed, with campaigners pointing to the experience of Rigg Wood on the banks of Lake Coniston in the heart of the Lake District in Cumbria.
Once a popular picnic and walking location, the 40-acre wood was sold in October for £116,000, with not a word to the local community.
The first they knew things had changed was when the car park was closed by the new owner.
“What has happened here is a symbol of what could happen if forests are sold. We are very worried about all the woods in the lakes. Rigg Wood illustrates what can happen without you even knowing about it,” said Paul Townsend, the chairman of the Save Lakeland’s Forests group. Walkers can still get access on foot, but the lack of a car park makes visiting impractical for many.
Defending his actions, the businessman who bought the wood, Mike Cavanagh, said most of those who had used the car park never visited the woods, while others used it for handbrake turns in their cars.
Locals, however, believe a much larger estate could be next for the auction block if Middle England does not make its voice heard.
