Alan to oppose Forestry sell-off plans
1st February 2011
A surge of Southampton residents have contacted Alan in the last 24 hours about the Government's plans to sell off Britain's forests. Alan has committed to supporting the campaign to stop the sell-off and will oppose the Government's proposals when they are debated in Parliament tomorrow.
Background
The government has already promised to sell off 15% of English woodland, and the Public Bodies Bill would give it the power to sell the rest. This means that more than 1,000 woods in all, covering 258,000 hectares would be up for sale.
Despite promises from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that communities and charities will be encouraged to buy the land reports last week suggested only 1% will be acquired by communities and 2% by charities who will most likely not be able to compete with the private sector.
The Department themselves have announced that purchases of the land will ultimately be dependent on the market, and so will not prioritise non-corporate buyers.
The Labour Position
Ed Miliband MP has voiced his opposition to the sale of the UK’s forests and woodlands and will be introducing a motion on the floor of the House of Commons on Wednesday. The motion will call on the Government to rethink its decision on the sales of England’s public forest estate, in order to protect it for future generations. Forestry Commission land may account for only 18 per cent of all Britain’s woodlands, but it accounts to over half of all the publicly accessible forests in the country.
Alan says:
I feel strongly that the UK’s ancient forests and woodlands must remain a public resource, free for all to enjoy and explore, and that Ministers should not have the right to sell off public land without having to first ask permission from Parliament, as the Public Bodies Bill seeks to do. It is for this reason that I will be supporting Ed Miliband’s motion on Wednesday and opposing the Government’s attempts to privatise our woodlands.
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