Melvyn Bragg and Eric Robson are some of the well known names opposing the sale of Lake District forests.
Proposal: The government has proposed that many of the forests in the Lake District which are currently managed by the Forestry Commission and under public ownership should be sold to private companies to raise in theory £100m.
Opposition: However the proposals have met with a lot of opposition most publically from Cumbrian broadcaster’s Lord Melvyn Bragg and Eric Robson, both of whom have expressed serious concerns both about the nature of the sell off and the actual savings being generated. Lord Bragg has gone so far as to describe the proposals as “vandalism”.
Proposal: The idea is that currently around 30 of the forests in the Lake District National Park are under public ownership, but if the proposal and associated bill is passed, they would be eligible for sale with 15 initially planned for immediate sale.
More details: Objections to this proposal partly seem to relate to the right of access which unlike in Scotland, does not give almost universal access to such land if in private ownership. Also the commercial nature of the land would need to be considered more by a company rather than potentially the bio-diversity of the land which is the Forestry Commission’s main objective now.
Famous examples of forests which would be up for sale include Grizedale in South Cumbria, Whinlatter near Keswick and Ennerdale in West Cumbria, all of which attract 10,000’s visitors each year. Grizedale and Whinlatter also have substantial incomes from Forestry Commission’s visitor centres.
Other famous names backing the protest against the sell off include Sir Chris Bonington, Lord Clark of Windermere, Broadcaster Stuart Maconie and Jack Ellerby from Friends of the Lake District.
A pressure group Save Lakeland’s Forests has been set-up to co-ordinate the efforts to protest against these proposals.
Forestry Groups: Not everyone is opposed to the idea. A spokesperson from the Confederation of Forestry Industries called for “some real debate about forestry in England” and added “So far, the commentary has been largely ill-informed about how awful private owners of forests are, with implied criticism of anyone who seeks to make a living out of using wood”.
More Lake District Resources:
Tourist attractions in Cumbria and the Lake District
Hotels in Cumbria & the Lake District
Lake District holiday cottages
Campsites & Caravanning in the Lake District
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[...] to sell forests across England, that included Grizedale Forest in the Lake District, have been shelved. The proposal, which included offloading over quarter of a million hectares of [...]