Dear Amber,
Thank you for your letter which arrived in today's post, in response to my asking you how you will vote about the forest sell-off this afternoon.
I note your recommendation that if I am interested I will get involved in the process, and your provision of the email link to do this. I will certainly follow that up, though via the Woodland Trust I have already registered my opinion in this context.
Your letter to me sets out the government's proposals. I already knew the proposals, hence my contacting you in the first place. But you have not answered my question as to how you intend to vote.
The proposals include transfer of ownership of woodlands to charities. This is very inadvisable, because in the event of charities falling on hard times and needing to sell assets, charities law requires that they sell not to the most trustworthy purchaser but to the highest bidder.
The proposals also guarantee us right of access to the land once it is sold. But what if the purchasers cut the forests down? We could find ourselves then with right of access to first a golf course... then a housing estate... then a chemical plant, as through a series of steps the land use changes.
You must have seen on the news the dreadful flooding and drought that has happened in different parts of the world, and be aware of the flooding that has happened in this country. It is the presence of established vegetation, in particular trees, that slows down the movement of water through the landscape, protecting our towns and villages and people against drought and flood. The forests are not just for beauty and recreation - they are not simply a leisure facility. They protect our wellbeing on every level, and they are OUR forests at the moment. It is vital that they remain in public hands. This proposed sell-off with all its reassurances and 'guarantees' is nothing but the thin end of a wedge that will drive into the heart of our future life security. Please will you vote against it today.
You offer reassurance that 'I, like you, regard this issue as of paramount importance with regards to protecting the public's access rights and enjoyment of our forests and securing our national heritage'. But you are wrong in saying that is like me, because those are not my primary concerns. I am not primarily concerned with rights and enjoyment and heritage and having lovely walks in leafy glades. I am concerned that our land is not covered with concrete and that we are not made vulnerable to extreme weather, that we do not find ourselves laid open to food shortages through soil erosion and drought, or to homes destroyed by flood, in years to come.
Please, Amber - vote to keep the forests in public hands
Yours sincerely,
Penelope Wilcock
Praying friends around the world - please pray as our government votes this afternoon, that they will hear the voice of the people and not take the step of sanctioning the sell-off of our ancient woodlands - like the Forest of Dean... Sherwood Forest... The New Forest... this would be folly beyond measure.