Group opposes Government sale of Shropshire woodland
Tuesday 1st February 2011, 8:09AM GMT.
The Shropshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England has said it opposes the sale of 30 woodland areas throughout the county and has called for any sales to have conditions.
Areas of woodland affected by the Government’s planned sale of Forestry Commission estates include Haughmond Hill, near Shrewsbury, and Mortimer Forest, near Ludlow.
Union representatives said sales of the forest to private businesses could affect 12 jobs across the county.
All of Shropshire’s woodland is currently slated to be sold for small-scale commercial purposes.
The sites could be sold off in the next financial year or in the year 2014 to 2015, but the list of forests up for sale this year will be announced by April 1.
The consultation, which runs until April 21, defines small commercial use as using the forest for timber production and sporting opportunities.
A spokeswoman for Shropshire CPRE said: “We are opposed to the proposed sell-off. We will study the consultation document and propose the following recommendations.
“It is important to CPRE that any sale will have conditions. Sold land must remain open so all existing Rights of Way can be used – the public must be allowed to use woodland paths under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.”
She said new owners should have to agree to replanting trees before getting a felling licence and replanting with native species should be encouraged.
She said any woods in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have special protection and said CPRE wanted all existing visitor centres and car parks to remain.
Steve Holdsworth, Union representative for Forestry Commission workers, said: “We are absolutely opposed to the way the consultation has gone out. The document is particularly long-winded, very complicated and within it, there isn’t even an option of keeping the Forestry Commission in place. Recent studies show that 85 per cent of people wanted the Forestry Commission left alone.”
Caroline Spelman, Environment Secretary, said: “State control of forests dates back to the First World War. There’s now no reason for the Government to be in the business of timber production and forest management.
“We want to move from a ‘Big Government’ approach to a ‘Big Society’ one, so that we can give different groups – individuals, businesses and civil society organisations – the opportunity to be involved in managing the natural environment. And we will make sure that public access is maintained and biodiversity protected.”
By Hannah Costigan
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this would be a tradgey – haugmond hill gets loads of walkers and its real easy, and its not just posh ramblers like in south shropshire its real people from sundorne walking the dog
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Taking their dogs for a Bowel Movement is sadly a feature of Haughmond Hill.
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I AGREE!!! Actually privatising it making people pay a pound for parking or what ever might keep the riff raff out and reduce dog fouling on the site, its filthy up there, poo every where and mc donalds wrappers, its absolutely disgusting, I refuse to take my kids up there anymore
The Forestry Commision only focus on timber and they forget to do litter picking and cleaning up there, a private owner may well do a better job in looking after the place and make it more accessible for the law abiding majority by keeping the filthy dog owners out
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Oh, I see,only posh dogs can crap up their, is this your attitude. I live in a van, and I see more riff raff as you put it, stepping out of new range rovers, than the majority of the working class, and as one of them, I can safely say that I am proud to clean up all the McDonalds wrappers and boxes after the landcruiser mob have flung them out of the window, because closed minded people like you, blame people like me, and why weren’t you activly demonstrating for a private sell off???
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this condem plan is awful – google ’38 degrees’ for more info on how to stop our national assets being privatised
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This and the NHS are too valuable to the country to let panicing penny-pinching punishing pack of MPs who are quite happy to lie to us throw them to the money markets.
Their intentions may be to get better ‘value’ out of them, but frankly I dont rust them and even if they mean well – always and always the safeguards put in place slip and we lose, someone profits. One day someone will have to clear this mess up.
ConDems you can’t protect us from the banks, from the money markets, from cuts, you can’t keep the streets clean, you can’t cut crime (just put up websites to pretend we have a say..then cut frontline police!) what good are you?
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WHY is everything trying to be sold? Soon there will be nothing left to sell then what? The government should downgrade their vehicles have one home not 2. What cut backs have they made? How about showing the public the figures for what has actually been paid towards the deficit. MMM i think not.
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#2 I know what you mean and you can include:
Birds
foxes
badgers
rabbits
weasels
stoats
hares
horses
rats
mice
shrews
and humans in the new toilets now provided.
What is the world coming too ? ;)
They do have a lot of mud up there too, so I’d give it a miss if I were you.
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What is going on, they spend money on developing Haughmond Hill into a leisure facility for the Town to be proud of and then sell it.
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I would rather land and property was sothan nurses and bin men were turfed out of work, we are broke as a nation, same as if this happened to your household you would have to remortgage and have a car boot sale to raise some funds, thats all they are doing there are acres of land, and millions of redundant public sector buildings, dont even get me started on the MOD estate, why not sell it to bring in some money to fund the NHS and such? Also it will bring these bits of land into a more productive use so its good for the economy too, the Forestry commission just sits on alot of these sites and doesnt have the commercial acumen to develop them for more profitable uses like paint ball, go ape, mountain biking or timber making. It should all be sold in my view
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It’s sad to see any of our forests or open spaces at risk but sadly this is yet another result of labours disgraceful legacy, the government is faced with making some of the toughest decisions ever faced and all the whining left can do is moan, look in the mirror socialists because this mess is your doing.
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Errr… lowest debt of any G7 country going into the crisis ?? Think about it Iron Flag, where on earth has that debt come from ??
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Did I really just read the words Socialist and Labour mentioned in the same paragraph ? Ah, the writer must have just been joking. Phew. Good One!!
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LOL Iron Flag thinks bankers are socialists!!
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Suppose dogging will be out of the question then if Haughmond hill becomes private…
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private sector = good at doing things on the cheap and making as much profit as possible
public sector = good at caring for people and places and prioritising values over value
Which would you rather looked after your kids ? Which would rather invest your pension in ? Which would rather managed OUR woods
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its not right, our ancestors spent years building up these assets for the whole nation, they are not even just the family silver, they are the family photo album, they have emotional resonance and value which goes beyond just pounds and pence, they are quite simply PRICELESS, we must never allow this tory-led government to give them away to their wealthy cronies like they did with our railways and our school playing fields
this is going to be a poll tax moment for cameron
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well said!
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i hope Shropshires Conservative MPs are listening / watching / reading – and not voting with the Government Whips purely – they must stand up for the thousands of people who use Haughmond Hill and Mortimer Forest every year for some fresh air and exercise, it just wouldnt be the same if it were felled or fenced off or if you had to pay to use it
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Unfortunately Peter from Wem what will happen is that the best of the forestry land will be sold, much like the best of the council housing stock went first.
You are wrong to say that the forestry commission is not making us money at the moment because it is.
Who do you think will benefit from the future profits?
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good on them, i hope they stand up to this temporary government who were never elected by the people but put on a sham marriage for the markets and now pretend to rule with public support, they ought to get out now and have an election im sick to the back teeth with the lot of them already
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this is the single most reckless act of vandalism against the UK by a government since gordon brown sold our gold, i am frankly disgusted, i will not be voting conservative again i can assure you of that
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its alarming because at the moment the government is subsidising wood fueled electricity production so i think alot will be clear cut for biomass
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this must be wrong, cant the council step in and buy them as parks or countryside sites?? they saved the west mid show and they bail out the bankers, so why not bail out the forestry commission ?? Maybe the national trust at attingham could save Haughmond hill too ??
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In the USA there are Federal and State Owned Forests.The entire coastline of Oregon is federal and state owned.The management,access
and environmental concerns is fantastic.A recent mental health study commented on the positive primeval benefits of walking in forests and woods.Access to Haughmond Hill from Shrewsbury Town Centre is a unigue example in the West Midlands.Contact your MPs,councillors and get your voice heard!
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Good on them, this forest sale is just plain wrong, its imorale, I am going to join CPRE
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same old tories…
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Get over it folks, 82% of woodlands are already privately owned.
Lots of crocodile tears from some people who probably haven’t set foot in a woodland in the last god knows how long.
And besides if this was any other sector all the leftie anti govt.types would be howling about a body self regulating itself, ie. the Forestry Commission regulating the sale of timber from the………..er…….Forestry Commission.
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Stephen, why the language of smear?
Surely if you support this scandalous sell-off, you could come up with some better arguments to justify the government’s decision.
Most people want a strong government department ‘protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woodlands and increasing their value to society and the environment’.
Why don’t you?
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yeah and can you access any of those ones? no not many for sure, all the main sites we all use in this country are publically owned
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It has been claimed (by the government) that the nett cost of the Forestry Commission is £15 million a year – which I suggest is an out and out bargain compared to the running costs of say, the Royal Family.
An article in today’s Independent also claims that the result of the sell-off will be a real and continuing nett loss – so how can it be justified other than as yet another attempt to put publicly-owned assets into the hands of the private sector?
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My family and I used to love walking Haughmond Hill but I am afraid that is a pleasure we no longer enjoy, be it owned by the public or private sector.
Why ?, it is the copious amounts of dog mess, and dog owners who have no respect for those of us that do not share their alleged love of these animals, dogs without leads are potential danger to me and my family.
So it is not Cameron and his cronies that may spoil this delightful corner of Shropshire, it is YOU with unrestrained dogs, allowing them to do their business, and YOU for making no attempt to clean it up.
Thanks a lot fellow Salopians
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I’ve just finished reading an excellent discourse on the matter you mention to my daughter. I heartily recommend ‘Everyone Poops’ by Taro Gomi for it’s balanced argument on the subject.
I’ve just re-read it and there is no mention however of whether Cameron & his cronies can be held responsible for the effluent on Haughmond Hill so I’ll take your word for it when you say they are not responsible.
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GC Why not go to Disneyland? I think you will find the false unreal world that you seek.
I have been going to Haughmond Hill for decades and have never had a problem with dogs. Some wierdo appeared to be doing something involving heavy breathing etc behind a tree a few months back so we changed direction to avoid him.
Makes you glad it is well used with mainly happy friendly people.
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Only a thought eva land, but he may have simply been getting dog poo off his shoes, unlikly but who knows.
It is not unreal to expect to take kids for a country walk without having the concerns I have already mentioned.
I am guessing you are a very responsable dog owner, and say things like “its all right he wont bite, he just wants to say hello” I do not expect you understand.
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All you ranters might want to actually read the article all the way to the end. Hard work but try it.
You might then read the “And we will make sure that public access is maintained and biodiversity protected”
No one is saying you won’t have access, just that you might have to pay to go onto private land that will probably be maintained to a higher standard than it currently is.
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the dogs mess there is frankly sickening, i have never seen so much C”£$£ in one place (apart from the front benches of the houses of parliment)
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you know the real reason driving this? it wont save money for tax payers because the Forestry Commission makes a profit for the treasury each year, no the real reason is for tax breaks. Because its a way to dodge paying inheritance tax if you are a millionaire you can pass on woodland instead and avoid paying the inheritance tax, so it will lead to reduced income from forestry profits, and reduced tax income for the treasury, so who wins? not the tax payer no way, no its wealthy millionaires who donated money to david camerons election campaign, thats whats drive this, sheer out and out tax dodging from millionaires, sucking money out of the public purse fully supported by the millionaires cameron and osbourne
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The government is planning a massive sell off of our national forests. They could be auctioned and fenced off, run down, logged or turned into golf courses and holiday villages.
We can’t let that happen.
We need to stop these plans. National treasures like the The Forest of Dean, Keilder, Sherwood Forest and The New Forest could be sold off. Haughmond Hill and Mortimer Forest in Shropshire could be logged to the ground.
Once they are gone, they will be lost forever. Our children wont have access to them like we did.
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it would be a travesty for woodland to be sold off agreed, but a good example of private woodland enterprise can be found at llandeggla nr ruthin, well signed mountain bike and walking trails, no clash between riders bikers hikers bird watchers etc, well run cafe, ok theres a 3 pound parking fee but the facilities are top class, well maintained and extremely well used.
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i see our MP making a fight for the hospital but this public asset also saves lives keeping people fit and healthy and its publically owned, loved and needs just as much protecting from this parasitic government who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing
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this land should be protected for ever imo
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Yes, the pedigrees are the worst, chum.
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this is completely unacceptable, this type of asset should not be controlled by politicians they should be held in trust in perpertuity, owned and funded by the tax payer with full access for all, not for profit with everything reinvested in the sites, they must never fall into private hands, even good people will eventually pass them onto kin who will sell them off one day
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NO WAY THIS IS NOT RIGHT PRIVATISE HAUGHMOND HILL OVER MY DEAD BODY!
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Have you considered what hymns you would like at your memorial service?
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this is just wrong, its one thing to privatise something like BT but there is just no good reason to do this its a public asset which generates money for the taxpayer every year and is accessible to all free at the point of use and managed not just on whats most productive but for the environment, for species and for leisure and pleasure.
cameron says let the national trust take it on, but you have to pay to be a member, so thats no better than a private forester taking it on in my opinion
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this is another bodged privatisation attempt by a goverment which has failed to learn from years in opposition that the British people dont like their ideology and that the history of economics proves their ideology wrong
people want public assets to be run by the people for the people and owned by the people
this is a frankly criminal act of environmental and social vandalism
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Where was all the ‘hooha’ when Labour sold off 25,000 acres of woodlands during the last Govt. ???
Or are we just ‘Tory bashing’, surely not, idealogical politics from the left ??
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When did 2 wrongs ever make a right, Stephen?
The Conservative-LibDem government want to sell off 635,000-acres of woodland in their first year of office.
That’s 25 times the figure you cited.
As you support this decision, why do you think our country no longer needs to ‘protect, expand and promote the sustainable management of woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment’?
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Those ‘leftie anti-govt. types’ seem to be everywhere, Stephen.
According to the opinion pollsters, YouGov, 75% actively oppose the Government’s measures to sell off some, or all, of England’s forests and woodlands.
6% support the plans to sell our woodlands.
http://today.yougov.co.uk/life/keep-our-forests-public
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And the answer to the question I originally asked about woodland sales by Tony & Gordon is ??????
And also the original point made earlier that 82% of woodland is already privately owned doesn’t appear to have registered.
Its all to easy these days to give an opinion to a pollster or ‘create’ a petition, but in the real world life ain’t that simple.
If the Forestry Commission was a Private Company it would have gone out of business years ago.
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rubbish stephen, absolute rubbish, you know nothing about economics, if the fc was private it would be in the ftse 100, its PROFITABLE and well run, but im glad its not private because if it were, you wouldnt be able walk in its woods for free would you now, so stop sreading mistruths and go check your facts mate, its making a good profit every year, its a sound business as well as a public good
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Does everything valued by the public have to make a profit, Stephen?
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wrong stephen, wrong again, check your facts, you are wrong, wrong, wrong
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no stephen, its geniune lack of satisfaction with the unelected government and its wrong policies on this improtant topic, and its also annoyance with people who spread mistruths alike
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yes i wouldnt object to paying a pound or so for parking every time i used haugmond hill, thats cheaper than the gym still! and it might pay for dog bins!!
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I am not sure what is the best policy, but I do know that this site is not well maintained under the present management so maybe it is time for change. Never happy to part with my hard earned, but if the benifits were visable to the user as decribed by “gra”, I too would not object to paying a reasonable fee to enjoy this wonderful woodland and amazing views.
Not sure about the dog bins though Pete, is’nt it ilegal, and how many could you get in.
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its a public wood, everyone should be able to use it not just those who can pay, if people misuse it by all means prosecute them for dog fouling but dont deny it to others
I cant imagine any private user would protect either, they have to make profit for their shareholders why would they use it as a local recreation site,
think about it, its all valuable timber, conifer wood on top of a valuable rock deposit, the Quarry would be the most likely buyer and the whole site would be lost for quarrying
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im pleased to see such oppostiion, everyone I know is against this stupid plan, it wont even save the governmnet money it will COST ALOT of tax payers money, there is huge opposition on the 38 degrees website too but dont just blog on here, please email your MP
its Daniel Kazcynski for Haughmond Hill and Phillip dunne for Mortimor Forest, google them and email them, make sure they vote against this legislation and you can save our forests for the future
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shame on them, they have no souls they are the nasty party putting profit before people, i wish we had a touch of the egyptian about us in this country, we need to kick this coalition out before they harm the country too much to repair
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just watched damion green squirming on qt about this so called policy, the crowd roasted him, this policy is HATED, they are going to have to drop it now, we cannot sell the family silver for short term gain, we need to play the long gain and pay down our debt calmly whilst focusing on protecting our key assets and society
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this is a land grab by the rich on public land reminds me of the medieval aristocrats seizing common land – oh wait a minute? osbourne et al they are all aristocrats
I smell a rat
hands off OUR land
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Much as though I can see the Tories have made a major PR slip here for little gain except maybe to some of their wealthy cronies who would have creamed off the best of our forests, I was sad that the previous debates on Question Time regarding further education and NHS destruction garnered less passion when they were debated.
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i do think that the Forestry commission do a fantastic job, balancing making an good annual profit for the tax payer with open access, conservation, leisure etc, they are doing some very good work local in the shropshire area with biomass green energy
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here here
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The previous Tory government sold off our family silver (gas, water, telecom etc) this lot are now selling our furniture – the next lot will probably try and sell our kids!
True blue – nothing changes!
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Labour SOLD OFF 25,000 acres of woodland during the last Govt., anything to say about that Sam ??
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Where was your voice?
25k of land compared to 650k is probably hardly newsworthy and try as i have cannot find any details of this sell off via various serch engines, perhaps you can enlighten us?
Its all wrong though and i am sure had the 25k of woodland which Labour “sold” had included Haughmond hill then these pages would have been full of people against it.
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yeah and the labour government also presided over the foresty commission becoming profitable and net woodland in the UK INCREASING, so before you critise mate, check out the tory track record on the environment, its not exactly the greenest government ever, despite closing the coal mines!
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tories cant be trusted with the economy, they always do the same, mass unemployment a boom bust and flog off (on the cheap) all our state assets, airlines, power, rail the lot its all sold to their mates for a quick buck and it always works out as a bad deal
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The Tories have already sold off our kids Sam,in England anyway.
In England the higher education system is our new industry to be sold to the highest bidder.
Ok that can be our English kids if they really want the burden of debt hanging around their neck for what could be the rest of their lives!
Stephen, can you not spell your own name?
Labour gave people the right to roam; established two national parks; widened access to woodlands and set targets for the recovery of sites of special scientific interest.
Labour increased the Forestry Commission budget and severely restricted its right to sell land. Around 9,500 hectares were sold and 5,400 hectares were bought, compared with the 72,500 hectares sold within three years when the Tories last put our woodlands on the market.
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tories are nasty, and cant be trusted with public money or property. fact!
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I have read all of the letters. Where were all of you when the planning application was put in to extend the quarry,On the 13Th August 2009? Only 19 letters of objection were sent to the council. Out of all the official body’s that are now complaining, only the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England sent in a objection. The C.P.R.E. supported the extension. The rest being Shropshire Badger Group, and the Ramblers Association,did not bother to reply, the Forestry Commission also welcomed the extension.And none of them attended the planning meeting that was held in the Shirehall where planning permission was granted. How things change when they want your support.
Attica. I am one of the Riff-Raff you refer to as I only get a pension and take my two dogs up Haughmond, sadly I have to take the one up there in a pushchair as she is old and can’t walk far.I have been going up the Hill for more than 65 years, they will have to put up a 6FT high fence all around the perimeter to stop me going in.I shall never pay. I was up there this morning but I failed to find the Mcdonalds, where is it?
Eva. What a wonderful list but you have missed out the humans who leave their tissue paper anywhere.
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no way this is not right, i dont trust private owners to safeguard them in the same way as a publically owned democratcially accountable company like the forestry commision can, i will chain my self to the trees to stop them being sold, this must not be allowed to happen now or ever
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Personally I did not see any problem with the extension of the quarry John.
The council struck a good deal with the aggregates company and we had some very creative management of the woods undertaken which has made it attractive in a different way and accessible to disabled people.
In the long term (25 yrs) there will be a large wildlife pool created and landscaped as part of this deal.
I am opposed to beauty spots being sanitised however so that people can take their children in their pink and white trainers for a trip to the countryside.
I would now be very annoyed if the woods that belonged to us and have been expensively improved in exchange for further quarrying was now sold off and we have to pay to use them.
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the Con-dems have got this wrong because they are all rich they can afford to members of the national trust and pay £60 a year to go round these woods, well people in Harlescott and Sundorne cant afford to be members mr cameron and clegg, so wake up to real people we need free open access forests on the edge of town for ALL people to use regardless of their ability to pay or be members of some exclusive posh rambling club
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The British government are only selling English forests. Danny Alexander is leading the sale of English forests while he’s campaigning against the sale of forests in Scotland where he was elected. Another British hypocrite destroying England from the safety of his Scottish constituency where he’s more likely to be rewarded than lose his seat for doing a hatchet job on the “auld enemy”.
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this is the most stupid idea, because its not a bad idea to get rid of lose making services like schools and libraries but the forestry commission?!?!?! the forestry commission makes an annual profit. Why when you need income as a nation would you give away a profit making business??!!
We should be privatising things like schools which COST us money not things like BT, Royal Mail and the FC which MAKE us money.
it would be like a family in debt giving up their second job – daft – it makes no sense because it will cost us all money and therefore require more cuts to cover the loss
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I may add that doing research into Haughmond Hill, it appears that it is in private hands and belongs to the Sundorne Estate. The Forestry Commission manages on their behalf.
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what annoys me most about this assault on our national heritage is that its not logical its ideological, it will cost more than it saves and deliver no benefit in terms of competition or efficiency, the commission is already run like a private company, it makes a profit and doesnt pay the usual fat cat public sector salaries, its one of the best bits of the public sector if not the crown jewels. Please for the love of god they must think this one through more. Look here, now im no fan of tony bliar but if one politician ever had a good line which we should all live by its “pragmatism not idealism” please mr cameron can we have some pragmatism on this issue, we want a sound economy thats what we put you in for, this is not helping
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this is frankly scandalous, the tories are ripping up the very fabric of this country, forests, libraries, volunteer projects and charities all being axed, so much for the greenest ever governmnet, so much for the big society, they are just the same old tories, and like all politicians they lie to get into power and then never implement their promises.
remember no top down reorganisation of the NHS? thats another one up in smoke like the trees of haughmond hill will be once the biomass power stations move in to own them
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i wouldnt mind if they gave the site to the wildlife trust or somthing but i imagine it would be the Quarry who’s the likeliest buyer for haughmond, so the fate would definately impact negatively on environment and access
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this is a political car crash for the tories, why oh why do they want to privatise forests, there is no reason i can see other that their religious extremist style committment to privatisation, we need to give a clear HANDS OFF signal on this
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probably the worst government policy in the world…
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over my dead body, i will tear the houses of parliment down and hang every one of these traitors before they get a chance to pass this bill, if they betray the nations history and then they will pay a heavy price with their careers
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Good to see people against it, please join the half a million! who have singed the online petition against this sale at 38degrees.org.uk/
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EVA The new paths etc were paid for with a grant from the Aggregates Levy Sustainable Fund and not directly from the Quarry,one of the conditions attached to the granting of planing permission was the giving to the council of £20,000 for traffic calming measures on the road, where has this money gone? The quarrying is to cease on or before 31 st December 2020. When we had a meeting with the quarry manager we asked the question “will you then follow the seam and start quarrying on the other side of the road” [ by the Abbey ] he truthfully said “I wont say yes and I wont say no” [This will be for our children to fight] They can’t go any further into the hill as there is a geological fault that prevents them. After 2020 it is anticipated that it will take 25 years to fill with water.
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