Goverment Public Consultation on Sale of Woodland

[Sunlit Forres]

stand by for more revenue raising schemes

We've just heard that the Forestry Commission will be charging between £2 and £3 to park at Culbin for this summer (it's always been free up to now). Unfortunately it looks as if the charges will be in place for the Moray Mix this June. That said, they've put up a superb toilet block, improved paths for the disabled and constructed an amazing viewing tower, so it's a small price to pay for the facilities.

Initial details for the Moray Mix (Nopesport League plus SOL4) should be up on the Moravian web site in a day or two.

[DaveK]

At Bedgebury Forest in Kent, the parking charge is £8, though there are some good cycle trails and facilities for the kids for 'day trippers'. Too expensive for Orienteering now though.

[Big Jon]

Re Culbin parking fee -how is it being policed? Parking fees in upper Deeside (eg Glen Muick for Lochnagar) are basically voluntary as all that happens is a polite notice to pay next time - its a bit far for a traffic warden to go!

[Sunlit Forres]

Don't know Jon. All we know is that there's a national meeting in 2 or 3 weeks' time so I suspect Culbin will be one of many. Roseisle used to have a ticket machine that everyone ignored and one day it just disappeared - perhaps it will soon return. You used to be able to buy a season ticket for about a fiver covering all FC parking areas.

One thing's for sure though; we won't be collcting parking fees on behalf of the FC.

[Red Adder]

The FC at High Lodge, Thetford have a high cost parking area (about £ 8 for 4 hours) which is enforced with barriers etc and they seem now to insist that CUOC/WAOC use it rather than the rides they used previously for events. In othe EA forests they still allow us to use rides but are not as accommadating as they were 5 years ago (when they actually mowed our chosen risde for us).

[O Dear]

Absolutely agree with bilbo - the sooner we get forests out of FC hands the better. Private and charitable organisations are much easier to deal with, and look after their woodlands better. FC specialises in creating moonscapes, leaving thin borders of 'nice' trees around the outside so no one can see the mess they make.

[Clive Coles]

I am afraid, unlike Red Adder, I prefer to work with the devil I know rather than chance my luck with Charitable Trusts. I recognise there have been more problems of late but where good local working relationships are maintained we can still reach agreement with FC over access.

The trouble with certain Conservation Trusts in our part of the country is that they are focused on re-establishing heather heathland habitat. Where the get their hands on land the fences go up, they cut down trees and remove Gorse and Birch scrub. They put Sheep and Exmore ponies into the newly enclosed area to mow the heather ~ they then padlock the gates. Orienteering access can no longer be guaranteed in these circumstances.

[ryeland of doom]

Back in the days when £2 was considered extortionate, I parked a few miles away and cycled in to the event. A tactic open to some of us.

[mikey]

Back in the days when £2 was considered extortionate, I parked a few miles away and cycled in to the event. A tactic open to some of us.

That's what quite a few people did for the CUOC High Lodge event.

The good news is that the FC manager for High Lodge has said he will look at car parking fees sympathetically the next time it is used for an event.

[Tatty]

We always park outside at Moors Valley Country Park - whereit's £5 in the summer. We use a gated entrance on the est side of the forest and then run/cycle in to then Centre.

[Clive Coles]

The threat to sell off the Public Forests in England has not gone away ~ it's only the Public consultation that has been withdrawn.

The Government is instead appointing a panel of experts to report in the autumn on what to do next. Forest Users are not being given a voice on the panel.

In response to this various Forest user groups have come to together to form the Forest campaigns network. See their first press release

http://saveourforests.co.uk/2011/03/04/forest-campaigns-network-press-release/

We need to remain vigilant ~ ongoing public access to our forests cannot be assured.

The FCN site provides lists of the various groups that it represents ~ orienteers could consider joining their local Forest user group to keep in touch with news as it evolves.

[Clive Coles]

Just wondered if any orienteering clubs ( in England or Wales) are getting involved with local campaigns to halt the 15% sell off of the Forestry Commission managed Public Forest Estates. Caroline Spelman confirmed this week that she expected this to happen over the next 4 years.

The Government has now appointed their panel of experts to advise them on how to manage the remaining forestry assets in the future. The panel contains many representatives from organisations who could seek to acquire forests if they are "privatised". Forest users [apart from the Ramblers Association who ironically actualy have "rights of access " under current legislation] and National Sporting Federations such as BOF, have not been given a place on the panel.

So it's up to us all to find a way of expressing our views and concerns over the continuation of unrestricted access to our public forests. If we sit back and assume it's not a risk we will have only ourselves to blame if permissive access is withdrawn once the private landowners and Charities/Conservation groups take over these areas.

Any idea if BOF are doing anything on our behalf ? I enquired a few weeks back but no feedback as yet.

[Spookster]

Any idea if BOF are doing anything on our behalf ? I enquired a few weeks back but no feedback as yet.

Clive - I assume your club has received this request from BOF, the response to which will help with the forthcoming meeting that someone (I guess Mike) will be going to.

English Clubs ONLY
REQUEST for information - URGENT
Future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England
Firstly can I apologies for the urgency of this request for information.

As will are probably aware the Secretary of State, Caroline Spelman, halted the consultation process that had commenced as a consequence of public outcry. An Independent Panel has now been established to advise her on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England and on the role of the Forestry Commission in implementing policy. Further details about the Panel, the members and brief can be found at: http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/rural/forestry/panel/

A representative of British Orienteering has been invited to attend a meeting with a Panel member to express the views of British Orienteering. In order to be able to present an accurate picture we are seeking your help in gathering certain information.

Many thanks for your support with this matter and once again apologies for the urgent nature of the request.

Mike Hamilton

Can you please do your best to provide this information to jgouge[a t]britishorienteering.org.uk at the National Office by 1 April 2011.

Club name: _____________________________________________________________
Number of areas/maps that are wholly or partly on Forestry Commission land: _______
Total number of areas that the club has mapped: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______
Many thanks for your help with this.

Regards,
Mike

[Clive Coles]

Just received this email from Mike Hamilton.

Hi Clive,

A very belated response I’m afraid due to my holiday and the mass of emails awaiting me on my return.

We are continuing to work with FC and the new Panel to try to get our messages across however as you stated these are rather uncertain times. Peter Brett our environment officer who is leading on this work is in touch with one of the panel members and is in the process of collating information to present to the panel.

I guess Peter Brett is the guy clubs should be contacting by tonight with details of their FC forests.

Thanks Spookster for the tip off of the club email ~ has yet to be forwarded to me ! i will reply this afternoon.

[Clive Coles]

BOF is now working with the Forest Access User group to petition the panel who are charged with determining the future management strategy of Forestry in England. This group is convened by the Ramblers Association whose Chief Executive, Tom Franklin, sits on the panel. He reports;-

Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Forest Access User Group speaks up for Forest Access (10/5/11)

This Thursday I’ll be attending my second meeting of the Independent Panel on Forestry, set up by Secretary of State Caroline Spelman following the public outcry over the consultation on the future management of the Public Forest Estate. In advance of this, the Forest Access User Group (made up of nine outdoor enthusiast organisations like the Ramblers, the Kennel Club, CTC, the British Horse Society, and the British Mountaineering Council) has issued a statement to the Chair of the Panel, Bishop of Liverpool James Jones, expressing its concerns and hopes for the future of public access to all our forests and woodland.

The Group is calling on the Independent Panel to ensure that ‘access is at the heart’ of its discussions concerning the future of our forests. The Group expects to meet all members of the Panel to express first-hand the value of our woods and forests for public enjoyment.

I’m really pleased that these different organisations have come together on this issue, to speak with a single voice. They represent millions of regular users of woods and forests who care passionately about this public amenity. The public make an astonishing 40 million visits a year to the Forestry Commission Estate, making the Commission the single largest provider of countryside recreation opportunities. The remit of the panel is not just Forestry Commission land, of course, but overall forestry and woodland policy. Just 18% of England’s woodland and forests are part of the Public Forest Estate, although that accounts for 44% of accessible woodland. We’ll also need to consider access to the other 82% of woods and forests.

Tom Franklin
Chief Executive sits on the Panel.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13350917


http://www.ramblers.org.uk/news/Latest+news/Outdoor+enthusiasts+speak+up+for+forest+access

Can you please encourage all orienteers to show support for this representation by clicking on the following link and signing up to the statement.

http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=117&ea.campaign.id=10536&ea.campaign.mode=DEMO