Delay of forest sell-off is 'just a PR exercise'

As part of the comprehensive spending review the Government had already agreed to sell off about 40,000 hectares of public forest.

The sales could have started immediately and The Stang, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, has already been sold for £3.25m.

But yesterday the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, confirmed the sell-off had been put on hold pending the conclusion of a consultation to sell off the remaining 218,000 hectares of Forestry Commission-run woodland.

The Government is under pressure to re-think the plan to sell off forests, with many fearing it would lead to reduced public access to woodlands.

Forests in the region which could be sold off, should the plan go ahead, include Kielder in Northumberland, Hamsterley in County Durham and Dalby in North Yorkshire.

Vicky Chilcott, of Hamsterley Trailblazers mountain bike team, which is campaigning to keep Hamsterley Forest in public ownership, said: “The Government was getting so much bad publicity from incidents like The Stang sell-off, and they were rushing through so many things, that people were saying this was a foretaste of what was going to come.

“It doesn’t alter anything else regarding the wider consultation document and to me it is nothing more than a PR exercise.”

Mrs Chilcott’s opinion was echoed by Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman, who said: “It’s obvious that the Government is concerned about the public reaction to this sale, which is deeply unpopular.

“However, this statement really says nothing new. They are simply taking more time over the sale of existing forest holdings while pressing ahead with proposals that would see 85 per cent of the forest sold to private owners.

“Hamsterley will not be saved by the Secretary of State’s announcement today. We must keep the pressure on.”

Liz Searle, of the Friends of Chopwell Wood, near Gateshead, said: “We are please the Government is putting this on hold, but are concerned that the criteria for the sale wasn’t looked at before.

“It will appease people a little bit, but we are all aware they are ploughing on with the plan to sell the other 85 per cent of forests.”

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop said: “A review is not enough – these plans must be scrapped and I will continue to campaign against them.”

Caroline Spelman, Environment Secretary, said: “ In light of the Government commitment to increase protection for access and public benefit in our woodlands, the criteria for these sales will be reviewed so that protections are significantly strengthened following the inadequate measures that were applied to sales under the previous administration.

Pending this review, no individual woodland site will be put on the market.”