Proposed sale of UK woodlands

[Gerry Webster]

The UK government  is proposing to sell off forests which are currently in public ownership. You can sign a petition against this proposal here:

http://saveourforests.co.uk/

or here:

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/save-ancient-forests/Pages/fc-disposals-act-now.aspx?WT.mc_id=fc

[Martin Baxendale]

It's a scandal. 

[Hristo]

Thanks for that Gerry.
In a country ( England, not the UK ) where I think around only 5% of the land area is covered by forest / woodland any attempt to reduce that total or create a climate that further damages ancient woodlands is beyond despicable. England can ill afford to loose such habitats and such moves erode any 'moral' positon the UK as a whole might care to take when encouraging othr nations to protect for instance rainforests from deforestation.
There is land in England that could be 're-purposed' for forestry. ( Large chunks of the Lake District, which should be covered in forest! )
I am sure anyone who has an e-mail account will drop into those sites and register their protest, I did before writing this!

[Brian Ellis]

The UK government  is proposing to sell off forests which are currently in public ownership. You can sign a petition against this proposal here:

http://saveourforests.co.uk/

or here:

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/save-ancient-forests/Pages/fc-disposals-act-now.aspx?WT.mc_id=fc

Are these two different petitions, the comments on the top one seem to by saying do not sign, as this implies you agree with selling them off, rather write to your MP expressing your views and keep looking back at that site.  I have to confess that I cannot think of anything worse than selling these sites to anyone, they are ours and not for sale.





( edit by maggi: I've righted your write, Brain! )

[David Nicholson]

I wrote to my MP, here's his reply. Suffice it to say he's a Tory.



<SNIP>Dear Mr Nicholson,

Thank you very much for your email regarding our woodlands.

I am looking into this matter and agree that these are national treasures.  I have never minded who owned any asset whether private, public or charitable sector; it is all about the terms and conditions on which assets are owned. In this case, I understand if any sale does happen that public access to these crown jewels will be guaranteed.

However, I am  digging deeper to find out more details and am grateful to you for writing to me with your particular concerns.

Kind regards,
Gary Streeter
<SNIP>

[Martin Baxendale]

Brian, Save Or Forests are saying don't respond to the Government's public consultation until the consultation has been thoroughly examined, because they feel it does not allow people to say they are against the sell-off, just how they would prefer the sell-off to be carried out. Anyone who objects to the sell-off of the publicly owned forests should sign the petition against it.

[Martin Baxendale]

I wrote to my MP, here's his reply. Suffice it to say he's a Tory.



<SNIP>Dear Mr Nicholson,

Thank you very much for your email regarding our woodlands.

I am looking into this matter and agree that these are national treasures.  I have never minded who owned any asset whether private, public or charitable sector; it is all about the terms and conditions on which assets are owned. In this case, I understand if any sale does happen that public access to these crown jewels will be guaranteed.

However, I am  digging deeper to find out more details and am grateful to you for writing to me with your particular concerns.

Kind regards,
Gary Streeter
<SNIP>

That's pretty much how our local Conservative MP is responding. It sounds like they're faithfully spouting the party line (even if some of them have their doubts).

[daveyp1970]

 I understand if any sale does happen that public access to these crown jewels will be guaranteed.
I'm sure they said before the election they were not going to put university costs up same old bull sh** they will do it because they all have 1 acre woods on the back gardens so they don't need them.
Chris i absolutely agree with you 100% if this happens we then have no moral stance to tell somebody in brazil to stop cutting there forests down,what a disgrace.

[David Nicholson]

Email I received today, sorry that the hyperlinks don't come out as such. (later edit- but they do!!)

<SNIP>Dear David,

This Wednesday there is a crunch vote in Parliament. MPs will vote on a motion demanding a rethink of plans to sell our national forests.

If enough of us contact our MPs now, we've got a real chance of winning this vote! So let's make sure MPs are getting thousands of messages with one very clear request: vote to save our forests this Wednesday.

It's quick and easy to email your MP, click here to send them a message:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/tell-your-mp-to-save-our-forests

This vote was announced on Friday - it's only happening thanks to everything we have done together to stand up for our public forests. The motion itself says that, "over 225,000 people have signed a petition against such a sell-off"! [1] It's even more proof that our campaign is working and that if we keep going we can win.

On Wednesday morning, MPs will open up newspapers to find full-page Save our Forests adverts - paid for by thousands of us. Let's back this powerful message in the media with an avalanche of emails to MPs from local voters urging them to do the right thing.

We're close, and together, we can win this. Please take a moment to email your MP now:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/tell-your-mp-to-save-our-forests

Since 38 Degrees members voted to start campaigning to save our forests in November, we've had a huge impact. We've sounded the alarm and spread the word. We've made the headlines and we've made politicians nervous. We are proving that people power works!

Now let's work together again to make sure each and every MP hears from hundreds of us:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/tell-your-mp-to-save-our-forests


Thanks for getting involved,

David, Hannah, Johnny and the 38 Degrees team


PS. It's easy to contact your MP through the 38 Degrees website. Simply enter your postcode and your MP's details come up! We've even got text ready for you to send, or you can put your message in your own words:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/tell-your-mp-to-save-our-forests

----
Notes
[1] Over 330,000 of us have signed the petition so far.


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<SNIP>

[Gerry Webster]

Brian, Save Or Forests are saying don't respond to the Government's public consultation until the consultation has been thoroughly examined, because they feel it does not allow people to say they are against the sell-off, just how they would prefer the sell-off to be carried out. Anyone who objects to the sell-off of the publicly owned forests should sign the petition against it.

That is my understanding too.

[Brian Ellis]

Brian, Save Or Forests are saying don't respond to the Government's public consultation until the consultation has been thoroughly examined, because they feel it does not allow people to say they are against the sell-off, just how they would prefer the sell-off to be carried out. Anyone who objects to the sell-off of the publicly owned forests should sign the petition against it.

That is my understanding too.

In other words, if I read you correctly they are different petitions as I pointed out, and the lower one, The Woodland Trust petition is the one to sign as an objector to the sell off.  Perhaps I did not make myself clear enough

[Martin Baxendale]

What I was trying to say Brian was that there are two petitions, but both are objecting to the forestry sell-off and you can sign both. I thought what might be confusing was the comment on the Save Our Forests page (first link) which talks about the consultation the government is doing and advises people not to respond to that consultation until it has been studied, because responding to the consultation could be taken as agreeing with the sell-off. If you click on "sign petition" on the Save Our Forests page of the first link, that takes you to the wording of the petition , which is clearly opposing the sell off. So you can quite safely sign both the Save Our Forests petition and the Woodland Trust petition.

[Martin Baxendale]

http://saveourwoods.co.uk/news/toby-buckland-responds-to-forest-sell-off-plans/

Toby Buckland, BBC Gardeners World presenter, has voiced his concerns to Save Our Woods over government proposals to sell publicly owned forests.

He makes an interesting point.

[Brian Ellis]

If you click on "sign petition" on the Save Our Forests page of the first link, that takes you to the wording of the petition , which is clearly opposing the sell off. So you can quite safely sign both the Save Our Forests petition and the Woodland Trust petition.

Thanks for that Martin - the cold must have addled what's left of the grey matter

[Lesley Cox]

So your lot are just like our lot! I wish you all well with your opposition to the sell off. And guaranteed public access is rubbish. It may work out that way for a month or year or two then suddenly Donald Trump or his like will be building golf courses, housing estates and God knows what. Any sell off of publicly (Govt) owned assets is for very short term gain to the govt concerned and for long term profit - monetary profit - to those who buy it. Those who instigate such sales are despicable.