Coalition Forest sale's back on - Issue for May Election

Forests sale 'within four years'

By Emily Beament, PA

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Independent

Sales of 15% of England's public forests will go ahead within the next four years, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said today.

The sales, expected to raise £100 million for the Environment Department (Defra), were suspended amid a row over plans to dispose of the rest of the forest estate.

Mrs Spelman said she was concerned the terms of selling the 15% - the maximum allowed to be sold under current rules - did not provide adequate protection for access and other public benefits.

But she told MPs on the Environment Select Committee that the sales would go ahead within the spending review, which runs to 2015, and the delay would not hit Defra's budget.

She said the funding had been "anticipated but not allocated".

And once protection for access and other benefits of woodland had been addressed, "the planned sales will be in a position to resume within the period of the spending review, and won't have an impact on expenditure", she said.

The Environment Secretary also defended the consultation on plans to dispose of the remainder of the public forest estate to businesses, charities and communities which provoked widespread anger.

She said previous governments had already been selling off the public forests.

"I simply thought it was right to give the public the chance to be consulted about the future of the forest estate."

The consultation was abandoned last month in the face of widespread opposition to the plans.

Shortly before the consultation was dropped, the previously announced sales of 15% of public forests were suspended over concerns about protecting the benefits they provide.

An independent panel has now been set up to examine the future of England's forests.

The People Reclaim the Forest of Dean - VICTORY IS OUR'S

THE LAST SIGN COMES DOWN

Watched by a jubiliant crowd, Baroness Jan Royall removes the last Hands off our Forest (HOOF) sign at Speech House today in a symbolic act to mark the government's complete "yew-turn" on forest disposals and the Public Bodies bill.

HOOF has always pledged that when the Forest was safe we would remove all the signs and yellow ribbons and return the Forest to its natural beauty.

The Forest may not be completely out of the woods yet, so to speak, as the HOOF statement printed below explains, but for the time being at least the threat to dispose of our Forest and all the other publicly owned forests of England has been removed.

Our Enemies - On Why Forest Privatisation Failed

State-owned forests live another day

Feb 17th 2011, 11:02

by Bagehot Economist


TIMBER! So shouted the wags on the opposition benches of the House of Commons yesterday, as David Cameron said he was not happy with how his government's plan to privatise English forests was going.

Labour hecklers might also have been referring to the career of the cabinet minister in charge of forests, Caroline Spelman, which now resembles a tree freshly struck by lightning: still upright and covered with leaves, but stone-dead beetle-food at the core.

Late last night, more formal word came: a public consultation on selling hundreds of thousands of hectares of state-owned woodland is to be cancelled, and instead a panel of experts will meet to discuss woodland biodiversity and public access. In plain English, an about-face for the government. Much has been said about the government's ineptitude in selling this policy, some of it by me. When I visited a woodland the other day for a print column, I also came away with the distinct impression that—especially in the wake of the credit crunch—the public is wary of the idea that the profit motive can co-exist with altruism.

That is a big problem for Mr Cameron's Big Society, which does not really add up if it does not include a hefty role for the private sector. Much has also been written about the slightly puzzling maths of this privatisation, notably when it turned out that an impact assessment conducted by Mrs Spelman's own department predicted that it would not save very much money. There is also the fact that the Forestry Commission rather efficiently cross-subsidises its stewardship of nice pretty woods and forests by flogging timber from the dark, ugly conifer plantations with which it disfigured the landscape in the post-war decades.

Defenders of the policy have also pointed out, correctly, that opponents of the privatisation have been spreading all manner of ludicrous scare-stories, implying that ancient woodlands like the Forest of Dean could soon be ringed with barbed-wire fences, while new private owners raze the trees within to build golf courses and holiday villages. Other opponents seem upset by the thought of anyone making money from cutting down trees at all, which is akin to weeping when a farmer harvests a field of wheat. Timber, after all, is also a crop.

I think one more aspect of this sorry tale needs wider circulation. This was not a bad idea because it was a privatisation. It was a mess because it was on its way to being seen as a rushed and bungled privatisation. And even the flintiest free-marketeer knows to beware botched sell-offs of state assets: few things are as deadly to public acceptance of an economy based on competition.

I spoke to the Environment Secretary for my column, and she admitted up front that the scheme was "not principally about revenue-raising." Instead, the plan emerged from the incoming government's decision to review all arms of the state and its associated agencies, bodies and quangos, and examine which of them made sense. When Mrs Spelman took office, she discovered that her sprawling department of the environment, food and rural affairs funded 92 arms-length bodies.

Various tests were applied to each of them. The most important principle was this: that the state should only do what only the state can do. In Mrs Spelman's view, the Forestry Commission—a regulator that was also the seller of 70% of the timber entering the British market—failed this classic test that has triggered countless privatisations over the years. "The Forestry Commission is selling Christmas trees, for goodness sake. What is the state doing selling Christmas trees?" she asked me.

And here is the thing. The principle that the state should only do what only the state can do is a pretty sound starting point for policy-making. It is just that—with the benefit of hindsight—the Forestry Commission does not pass this test in a clean-cut way. At least, not in a way that is so cut-and-dried that a simple public case can be made for it. If the commission only owned commercial timber plantations, it would be easy to know what to say: sell them.

If instead the commission only owned a few "heritage woods", it should not have been beyond the wit of Whitehall to transfer their management into the hands of willing charities like the National Trust, with suitable guarantees about back-up funding. But the problem is that the commission is neither fish nor fowl. It owns ugly, profitable woods; it owns ancient and famous forests; and it also owns a whole host of small and medium-sized woods that are used for a mix of commercial forestry and recreation; it employs scientists who track diseases and pests that threaten British trees; it is also a regulator.

It once had a terrible record of planting conifers in straight lines all over the country, but in recent years has become much more concerned about restoring ancient broadleaf trees, so it is also an environmental protection agency. Quite probably a privatisation was still the right way forward, with a better minister to sell it and more willingness to spend political capital and defend from first principles the shrinking of non-essential bits of the state.

But why was the Forestry Commission so high on the government's agenda, in its first year in office, given that it is a small, cheap and relatively efficient bit of the state? Thinking back to Mrs Spelman, dutifully scanning her 92 arms-length bodies, I recall waves of press stories about the new government's plans for a "Bonfire of the Quangos" (I also recall how most of the stories focussed on the pay and pensions of those agencies' bosses, a populist angle much encouraged by government spin-doctors). It would be pretty depressing if the forests were added for the sake of bulking up that pyre and attracting a few quick headlines, rather than because they were prime candidates for a well-crafted sale.

Tory/Lib Dem Forest Sell Off - POSTPONED

English forest sell-off put on hold

Government postpones sale of 40,000 hectares of public forest to allow for a review of woodland protection

Fiona Harvey & Damin Carrington

Friday 11th February 2011

Protest ribbons are tied around trees in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The government has taken 40,000 hectares of public forest off the market, in the latest twist in the furore over the proposed sell-off of England's woodland.

About 15% of England's public forests had been slated for sale, with the aim of raising £100m for government coffers, but on Friday morning the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it would hold on to the forest until the fate of the rest of the Forestry Commission's land had been decided.

Defra said the sale was being postponed because of concerns over access rights, and will not affect its broader proposal to sell nationally owned woods, which is still the subject of public consultation.

Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, blamed the last Labour government – which had allowed for a sale of up to 15% – for the halt.

She said in a written statement: "In light of the government commitment to increase protection for access and public benefit in our woodlands, the criteria for these sales will be reviewed so that protections are significantly strengthened following the inadequate measures that were applied to sales under the previous administration. Pending this review, no individual woodland site will be put on the market."

Mary Creagh, the shadow environment secretary, said: "[Calling off the 40,000 hectare sale] is a panic measure by a government which has been spooked by the huge public outcry. This partial U-turn will not be enough to silence the protests. This government has not scrapped its plans to sell off the public woodlands."

But many organisations welcomed the move, such as the RSPB, whose conservation director Mark Averysaid: "This is a good thing. Lots of forests were going to be sold off without enough protection [for public access rights and wildlife]."

The postponement will mean that, after the consultation ends on 21 April, the 15% may come back on to the market for sale outright, and if the government's current plans go ahead, the rest of the Forestry Commission's land will be sold on long-term leases.

Avery said the government was "clearly taking a deep breath" over the forestry proposals. "They always seem like they are trying to catch up with the last thing someone has told them," he said. "We don't object to the state getting out of the business of growing timber, but we need to see if the right forests are being sold in the right way."

Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, also welcomed the decision. "This is not a U-turn but the start of a three-point turn. We look forward to hearing that the Forestry Commission job losses will now also be called off and that the whole forestry disposal debacle will be scrapped," he said.

Forest Privatisation: Cameron a Stranger to the Truth

Here is a statement.

"The idea that all Forestry Commission forests are open to the public and do not charge is simply not true," said the prime minister. "

Many forests, such as the New Forest, are not owned by the Forestry Commission and have much better access, no parking charges and very good records on habitat. While we are having this consultation, we should bust some of the myths that have been put around about this idea."

And here, by way of contrast, is another statement. "In 1924 the management of the New Forest passed to the Forestry Commission under the Forestry (Transfer of Woods) Act, 1923 and became vested in the Minister of Agriculture rather than the Sovereign."

Someone made a fool of themselves in the Commons this week, we think.

We think it was Dave.

Guardian

The People of the Forests ARISE !

A growing revolt is in full swing in the English Countryside. Rural Communities are banding together to take direct action to prevent the Tory/Lib Dem privatisation of England's great forests.

On Friday, Tory Minister Mark Harper, MP for Forest of Dean was heckled and pelted with eggs by a huge crowd, including Country Standard supporters in the small town of Coleford.

The meeting in the local Library was full to bursting with further 500 outside in the street. The protesters chanted of 'Hands off our Forest' and 'Get Harper out' could be heard throughout the meeting and long into the night.

The huge crowd spilled over into the main street, with local residents and passerby signalling their overwhelming support.

It did not go unnoticed by those fighting the privatisation of the Forest of Dean that the building the meeting was held in Coleford Library, is also threatened with closure by the Tories.

Next Stop the New Forest !

Let'ss turn the anger on millionaire Caroline Spelman, Tory Environment Secretary and architect of Forest Privatisation ?.

The Right Wing Press running scared............

Sunday Telegraph 6 February 2011

"Mark Harper, the Conservative MP for The Forest of Dean, was attacked by protesters as he exited a public meeting where he had been defending the Government's plans for a forestry sell-off.

He was pelted with eggs by protesters who also attacked the police van to try to prevent him leaving.

Mr Harper accused a number of objectors of being "bent on violence" and likened them to a "baying mob".

The public meeting, which took place in Coleford in Gloucestershire on Friday night, will have given the Coalition a worrying insight into the growing anger its forest consultation has provoked.

One Tory MP has already warned the sell-off could be the Government's 'poll tax moment'.

Martin Ives Sunday Times 6 February 2011

"What do we want? The Forestry Commission. When do we want it? Now. In the past 10 days the coalition has performed the seemingly impossible feat of turning a dreary nationalised industry into the last redoubt of Merrie England. Watch out, its ancient greenwood is to be sold off or leased to axe-wielding spivs. So farewell, the woods that once sheltered Robin Hood; adieu the hearts of oak that kept the Royal Navy afloat.

Anyone who remembers how the view on a country walk has been spoilt by an ugly, dark wall of Christmas trees will be sceptical of the Forestry Commission’s stewardship of our green and pleasant land. Charles Clover, our environment columnist, sees merit in the government’s proposals.

However, there is no disputing how unpopular the policy is — opinion polls reveal more than 70% reject it. Damian Green, the luckless Tory minister who had to defend the measure on BBC’s Question Time on Thursday, was howled down. Conservative HQ had supplied him with an incomprehensible debating point about the Forestry Commission’s conflict of interest as regulator and timber merchant. He was chopped up for firewood."

Labour Storm the Poll in Gloucestershire - From 4th to 1st

Labour have for the second time in a month surged from the bottom of the poll to take a key county council seat from the Tories.

Brian Oosthuysen won the Rodborough division on Gloucestershire County Council for Labour with a surge in Labour's share of the vote close to 20%.

In 2009 the Lib Dem's came within a handful of votes of wining this seat and had high hopes of taking it at Thursday's (3 January 2011) by election.

Growing anger at the Tories/Lib Dems plans to sell off of the Forest of Dean and local council cuts played an important role in Labour's victory. Equally important was Labour's determined local campaign to overcome the daunting task of moving from a fourth place to clinch victory. An objective it duly delivered upon.

This result should act as a rallying call to Labour activist and supporters in rural areas to get out and fight in as many seats as they can in the May Council elections. Where we cannot stand, we need to back progressive candidates or independents committed to opposing cuts.

Make the candidates of the Government of Millionaires fight for every vote, lets fight them in the hedgerows, lets engage with the enemy at every opportunity and defeat them in there lair's !.

Well done Labour in Gloucestershire.

Result 2011

Labour: 793
Conservatives: 790
Libdem: 660
Greens: 260

Result 2009

Nigel Cooper (CON) 35.3%
Christine Headley (LD) 31.3%
Phil Blomberg (GRN) 21.1%
Brian Oosthuysen (LAB) 12.2%

Labour came from fifth in Camborne to take the Cornwall County Council Seat

Video - HOOF Forest of Dean Rally

3,000 attend rally against Forest of Dean sell off

3rd January 2011 at Speech House Meadow, Coleford, Gloucestershire.

Country Standard supporters joined an amazing turnout of over 3,000 people, who braved the cold and snow to take part in the HOOF (Hands Off Our Forest) protest against the privatisation of The Forest of Dean.

After a walk through the Cyril Hart arboretum the protesters heard impassioned speeches from Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Jonathon Porrit of Forum for the Future, the Bishop of Guildford and many others.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon "We cannot and we must not allow our Forest to be sold. Don't wait for the consultation that is promised - act now!"

Dick Brice, Asha Faria-Vare and other musicians entertained the crowd. The grand finale was the ritual burning of a wooden statue of Big Ben.

HOOF

Hands Off Our Forest

http://www.handsoffourforest.org

Hands Off Our Forest - Monday 3rd January - Gloucestershire

The Forest of Dean is under threat as never before. Government plans to sell it off will limit access and destroy centuries of tradition. The mixed broad-leaf and conifer woodlands, so well managed by the Forestry Commission as an amenity for all, will be ruined.

HOOF aims to keep the Forest as it is – publicly owned and publicly run by the Forestry Commission.

Country Standard urges it's supports to join the HOOF rally

MAJOR HOOF RALLY

Monday 3 January

Speech House

Coleford, Gloucestershire

Meet Woodlands car park 12.30

Rally in Speech House field 1.00

Guest speakers etc to be announced - watch this space.

Please try to be there and make this a huge show of strength.

http://www.handsoffourforest.org/

HOOF's strategy is that government should respect the 1981 Act regarding the Forest of Dean and give it, and the other Heritage Forests, full protection from disposal.

We believe that ownership and management by a charitable trust is both impractical and a road to ruin.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Labour leader of the House of Lords, speaking to a packed Miners Welfare, Cinderford, on Friday 10th Dec. Read here

If you want a great introduction to the government's plans and our response to them, click the Information link above. There you can read a Question & Answer article by Nigel Costley and an in-depth article and a fascinating history of the Forest from early times to the present day by Owen Adams

Visit our information page to find out what you can do to prevent this disastrous sell off of something we all own.

Read a great article about the privatisation of our forests by

Jonathon Porritt here

CLICK THE ICONS BELOW TO SEE US IN THE FORESTER AND THE REVEIW AND ON FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE

FOLLOW HOOF on @handsoffdean

SAVE OUR FORESTS - YELLOW RIBBON MOVEMENT

There is a movement already underway, started by Sally Lomax, to tie a yellow ribbon around prominent trees - you may have already seen some, for example along Bream Avenue.

The idea is to constantly remind everyone in the Forest that it is under threat. Only when the Forest is safe will they be removed.

You can buy Florist Ribbon, 100yds long and about 2" wide, colour daffodil, 100% waterproof, at Crazy Occasions (tel: ) in Lydney.