MEMBERS of Wyre Forest’s Labour Party are calling for the Government to axe proposals to dispose of the Forestry Commission (FC) estate, whether to the private sector or charities and voluntary organisations.
They have written to Mark Garnier, Wyre Forest MP, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Caroline Spelman and Prime Minister David Cameron.
The resolution says: “The Government has announced that it plans to dispose of a large portion of the Government owned forestry estate managed by FC.
“It is not yet known if the local well-known forest – from which, incidentally, our district council and the constituency take their name – will be included in this job lot.
“This constituency Labour Party deplores the further passing of a national treasure into the hands of private enterprise.
“This forest is enjoyed by many people for recreational activities and is considered to be part of our heritage.
“The fact that its future may lie in the hands of those who put profit before service to the community is abhorrent to many in the local community and, nationally, over 150,000 people have signed a petition protesting about this proposal.
“The general committee of Wyre Forest Constituency Labour Party therefore calls upon the Government to take heed of the will of the people and abandon the proposals to interfere with the FC.”
Diana Udall, Wyre Forest Constituency Labour Party secretary, added: “Since this resolution was passed the government has tried to defuse the opposition to their proposals by saying that there is nothing to worry about as the land will be split into ‘heritage forest” to be passed onto community groups and charities and ‘commercial forest’ which will be sold off.
“However, without the ‘commercial forest’ the charities will have no source of funding to look after their part of the forest.
“The FC estate is land which already belongs to us, the community, and is being well managed on our behalf by the FC.
“Wyre Forest Labour says if it is not broken don’t mend it – keep the FC and its land as it is.”
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