OPPOSITION to the Government’s plan to sell off thousands of acres of the region’s woodland is growing, after politicians, community groups and celebrities attacked the proposal.

The privatisation of Forestry Commission woodland would raise £74.5m over the next five years.

But critics of the plan say it would leave the future of some of the country’s most precious forests, including Hamsterley, in County Durham, and Dalby, in North Yorkshire, facing an uncertain future.

Hamsterley is County Durham’s second-biggest tourist attraction after Beamish Museum. It boasts world-class mountain bike trails that make it a favourite venue for riders throughout Europe.

Dalby Forest attracts 400,000 visitors every year.

Opponents say that, as well as restricting public access to the forests, the sale could end up costing taxpayers more money in Government subsidies paid to new owners to manage the woodland.

In a Commons debate last night, shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh accused the Government of “environmental vandalism”.

She said: ‘‘The Government is carrying out a hatchet job which destroys the funding model which has protected England’s forests for nearly 100 years.

‘‘If you sell the commercial timberlands, you starve the ancient woodlands. The true value of England’s forests can never be measured in the price the Government gets from selling them.’’ The debate over the proposed sell off came as the Forestry Commission announced that it is to cut at least 400 jobs in England and Scotland.

A spokesman said the losses are as a result of cuts to the commission’s budget of 26 per cent between now and 2015.

The Government has devised three categories of forest – large scale commercial, multi-purpose and heritage.

However, many forests include Scheduled Ancient Monuments and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

As part of the Save Our Forests campaign, The Northern Echo has launched a petition which will be sent to the Prime Minister.

Botanist David Bellamy, who lives near Hamsterley Forest, said: “I absolutely support this campaign. This madness just has to stop – this isn’t theirs to sell, these are our forests and they belong to everyone in the country.”

Gordon Rowntree, regional vice chair of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said the sale could have devastating effects for the region.

“We are worried that there are no guarantees about access,” he said.

“The North-East will be hardest hit by the Government cuts anyway, and if tourism is leaving the region as well as jobs, we will really feel it.”

Vicky Chilcott, from Hamsterley Trailblazers mountain bike team, said the sale would make a fundamental change to England’s recreational facilities.

She said the Government should consider giving the public more control of the recreational side of the Forestry Commission, making it separate from the timber production operation.

“There are a number of different models which should be looked at, rather than throwing it all in the air and having a very expensive reorganisation,” she said.

The Trailblazers want Hamsterley reclassified as a heritage forest. If that fails, then Mrs Chilcott said the group would consider trying to buy the woodland, but admitted it would be “a massive task”.

Mountaineer Alan Hinkes, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said: “The most important issue is that public access to the forests is maintained.

“If it the forests are sold, but the access remains as it is, then I’d be happy with that.”

MP Helen Goodman, whose Bishop Auckland constituency includes Hamsterley, said: “Areas like Hamsterley Forest are among our most valuable resources and it is totally unacceptable for this Government to sell them off to the highest bidder.”

Meanwhile Pat Glass, MP for North West Durham, described the decision as “environmental vandalism”.

John Gibbs, chairman of the Friends of Dalby Forest, said: “If it’s not about the money then why do it? If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it.

“If Dalby Forest was included it would be a disaster.

There are five SSSIs and archaeological sites both known and unknown.

“I don’t think that a commercial developer putting in the money to buy Dalby would develop the site in the future.”

Readers of The Northern Echo will be able to support the campaign by signing a petition at the bottom of this page.

Copies of the petition will also be available to sign at The Northern Echo office receptions in Darlington and Bishop Auckland.

In a debate about the proposals in the House of Commons yesterday, Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman said: “I am calling on the Secretary of State today to stop this fire sale.

“These hasty proposals to sell land such as the 2,000- hectare Hamsterley Forest in my constituency are ludicrous.

Why should we pay to hold what is already ours?

“The truth is that the Secretary of State has succumbed to the political arithmeticians of the Treasury.

“But the forest is a place for free spirits which will not be quenched by this pathetic, mean, small-minded Government.

“So I am calling on everyone in County Durham and the North-East who cares about Hamsterley to come to our ‘Hands Off ’ trek, on Saturday, February 26, which will begin at 11am at the visitors centre in Hamsterley Forest.”

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