Goverment Public Consultation on Sale of Woodland

[Clive Coles]

Your Chance to Influence the Future Direction of England’s Forests

British Orienteering has joined forces with nine other organisations representing recreational users of England’s forests and woodlands to lobby the Government’s Independent Panel on Forestry Policy. The group wishes to see recreation at the heart of future forestry policy in England and you can demonstrate your support through joining the online campaign by using this link and completing the few questions on the form
http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=117&ea.campaign.id=10536
Peter Brett, Environmental Officer

[denzil53]

Your Chance to Influence the Future Direction of England’s Forests

British Orienteering has joined forces with nine other organisations representing recreational users of England’s forests and woodlands to lobby the Government’s Independent Panel on Forestry Policy. The group wishes to see recreation at the heart of future forestry policy in England and you can demonstrate your support through joining the online campaign by using this link and completing the few questions on the form
http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=117&ea.campaign.id=10536
Peter Brett, Environmental Officer

This looks a very good initiative to show that orienteers haven't taken their collective eye off the issue. I have happily added my name to the campaign.

[Clive Coles]

WE have now reached a new phase in the consultation.

It's therefore time for all English orienteers to stand up and fight for on-going access to our Public Forests

The Forestry panel, who are formulating proposals for the Government which will determine the future of public open access forest and woodlands in England, have called for views from all forest users. That doesn't mean just BOF, or your association or club committee invaluable that these submissions will be. It means each of us need to take a little time to make our own views known to the panel, as volumes of responses will help to convince our policy makers why we orienteers value our forests.

If you don't take this opportunity, they could deduce we don't care. The Government could well rekindle their plans to sell, or lease off, the forests to private landowners, and Charitable Trusts with single focused conservation interests. Remember Caroline Spelman only suspended her earlier consultation last February as a result of the public outcry. DEFRA is already taking steps to reduce head count at the Forestry Commission We therefore need to respond.


The Save our Woods campaign have provided an on-line facility for use by any forest user should you prefer to draft and submit your response direct from your computer. http://saveourwoods.co.uk/respond-to-the-forestry-panel/


The BOF website contains information as to what clubs should be doing to protect access to their forests http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/index.php?pg=1&action=news&id=MjE5OA==&rtn=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5icml0aXNob3JpZW50ZWVyaW5nLm9yZy51ay8= BOF provides some useful statements which could be included in your response.

BOF is continuing to work within the Forest Access Users group which has been convened by the Ramblers Association , They have access to Tom Gregory - CEO of the Ramblers Association who is a member of the panel. They too have asked for orienteers to support their campaign: see previous posts on this thread.

So, as well as submitting your views to the panel, please also support the Ramblers initiative by supporting their statement.

[Gross]

BOF website has a page indicating suggested views for these reviews. Point 8 below:

Mountain Bike Orienteering is a growing discipline of orienteering and for growth to continue exclusive access to suitable forestry land is required. Again a ‘benevolent management’ of forestry land is required.

seems a bit daft.... surely it's a mistake to be asking for exclusive access to forests?

[ryeland of doom]

BOF website has a page indicating suggested views for these reviews. Point 8 below:

Mountain Bike Orienteering is a growing discipline of orienteering and for growth to continue exclusive access to suitable forestry land is required. Again a ‘benevolent management’ of forestry land is required.

seems a bit daft.... surely it's a mistake to be asking for exclusive access to forests?

Totally unacceptable - exclusive use = goml.

[AndyO]

It's therefore time for all English orienteers to stand up and fight for on-going access to our Public Forests

Clive, without being too nationalistic, it's time for all orienteers to stand up and fight for on-going access to English Public Forests, and as others have suggested, to seek a fully considered and comprehensive Access Code on the Scottish model. Anything less will always leave the sport and all other users of FC land vulnerable to the whims of a new owner, and it is easy to imagine how "safety" concerns about timber operations, or access road repairs could be conveniently trotted out to stop or prevent access.

Gross makes a good point about the "exclusive" access for MBO, but "a degree of exclusivity" is seen as a part of the "benevolent management" promoted by BOF. I would question why this should be, as we have no such "exclusive" access in Scotland, and recognise that others may well be in the forests while an orienteering event is on - even at Culbin on Sunday - and it doesn't cause any problems that can't be worked around.

Point 5 mentions numbers, and 11,000 formal members and 30,000 visits to FC land don't sound that impressive in a national political context. It might be better to record the total number of event entries for a year, because that is the size of the market, and the base from which the sport seeks to grow. The growth of the sport is of course dependent on reasonable access to suitable land, and FC land ought to be the major player in that growth.

Another point worth noting would be the lack of impact that the sport makes on FC land, as in normal circumstances, by the following day there will be no indication that a race has taken place at all, unlike some other users who leave markers and general litter lying around. The sport is actually an ideal partner for FC, and the interests of the sport and of FC are not mutually exclusive.

[Clive Coles]

Quite right AndyO ~ should have said

It's therefore time for all orienteers to stand up and fight for on-going access to Englands Public Forests

Scotland and Wales have devolved powers and as yet these Forests appear not to be under the same threat from DEFRA of being fragmented, enclosed and sold off in bits to whoever can profit by taking them over.

[Big Jon]

Not too surprising that Scottish and Welsh forests are not being threatened with a sell off to the well off - the governments in these parts are not hard right neo-cons determined to squeeze every penny from public services and pass every profitable part to their big business backers who will then screw the public and pay themselves ever bigger bonuses.

If you want a safe forest commission estate in England then don't vote Tory - Simple.

[Clive Coles]

Deadline 31st July

It's now less than two weeks to go before the end of the public consultation. Please encourage every orienteer to send in their views regarding the future of the public forests in England.

They can do this on-line using the 38 degrees link shown in my footer. You don't need to write an essay, or even answer every question.

A high response from orienteers will help to convey the message that we need to continue to have unimpeded access to our public forests. They must not, in my opinion, be subdivided by fences and either sold off in bits to the highest bidder, or leased to conservation trusts for selective conversion management. The Forestry Commission, for all it's faults, has the experience of managing a multi-function estate. It isn't broke so lets build it up rather than starve it of financial resources.

DEFRA's original proposals that were withdrawn last February are still on the table ~ they now need to be kicked firmly into touch. This will only happen if the Forestry panel are fully appraised of orienteering needs and concerns

[Clive Coles]

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/i ... 9yZy51ay8=

Need I say more !

[Clive Coles]

This topic is coming back on the agenda ~ the sell of of our public forests is still a possibility.

The Guardian has just published a list of Forests in which the Wildlife Trusts have expressed their interest .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2012/jan/11/england-forest-sell-off-wildlife-trusts?intcmp=239

i recognise an awful lot of familiar O Forest names on their list.

In SUFFOCland the Wildlife Trust look likely to acquire Knettishall heath asa result of our County Council's drive to off-load responsibilities for our public parks and open spaces.

We are building bridges with the Suffolk Wild Life Trust ~ we are staging a low key fundraising demonstration event for them at Knettishall at the end of the month.

I am though uncomfortable with the possibility of more and more public access land being transferred to a purely conservation focused body. We could find further access restrictions imposed.

Any other club involved with the Wildlife Trusts at present ?

[DaveK]

Any other club involved with the Wildlife Trusts at present ?

Not quite the same, but an interesting parallel possibly, as we have recently lost use of an area purchased by the RSPB who have been discouraging anything other than bird watching activities.

[IanD]

Any other club involved with the Wildlife Trusts at present ?

Mole Valley have an excellent relationship with the Surrey Wildlife Trust.

Caveat: all Wildlife Trusts are independent and different from each other. And the Surrey Trust do recognise a responsibility to encourage public access as well as conservation.

[seabird]

We also have recently lost access to a small urban wood/semi open area owned by local Woodland Trust, who only want access on footpaths. Bluebells, voles, and deer have variously been mentioned.

Not a great orienteering area lost - but possibly indicative of the way things could go.

ps. The deer are a few Muntjac. I notice they have a bit of a mixed press from a conservation viewpoint; damaging woodland vegetation etc, although the only complaints a brief search uncovered was in that most unreliable and alarmist of sources, The Daily Mail Something along the line of "foreign invaders destroying our wonderful English woods". When the article was written in 2010,they were allegedly on their way to Scotland. So cousins, beware!

[King Penguin]

Local received wisdom is that Muntjak are better at keeping brambles down than other species of deer (Bentley Wood cited as example) - so could be a Good Thing for us. Don't know if there is any scientific evidence to substantiate this.