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Sell off of OUR land: |
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David Bird Forum Specialist Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 515  View other posts by David Bird |
Posted: 27 Jan 2011 As a lot of you may know the government of the moment is in financial difficulties. One of the methods of trying to get out of this is to sell off public land such as that presently owned by M.O.D, Natural England and Forestry Commission or to get rid of land that they presently lease from large landowners. They view being put over to the public is that any land that goes into private ownership or is leased by private organisations will carry on being used for the same purposes that it is being used for at present. This is very doubtful as the Conservation organisations will probably not be able to afford the large mixed use parcels of land and any commercial interests will have to make a profit to survive and not be able to fund public recreation and conservation land especially when conservation grants cease. With leased land the land has to be offered back to the landowner first before allowing it to go to anyone else, it is doubtful that most landowners will want to carry on forestry with a large amount of public access and open space for conservation. Land used for military purposes will probably have to be used for a completely different but financially viable purpose A lot of the areas that are important for reptiles such as the heathlands of southern England also have a valuable mineral resource, sand, under them, if there are extant mineral rights on the area then the price will naturally be much higher than if there are no rights at the moment. There are apparently several petitions around to try to stop this sell off but until one of the larger organisations such as the Ramblers Association become involved and can exert pressure as they have done before the sales will go ahead relatively unopposed. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8809775.160_000_sign_up_to_h alt_New_Forest_sell_off_bid/ http://robertjones.ucumari.co.uk/?p=219 http://saveourwoods.co.uk/ http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/8813221.Cumbria_ s_Lord_Bragg_slams_potential_sell_off_of_forests_as__politic al_vandalism_/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/tag/politics/forum?cdThread=Tx3LO4LO S1541YW Minister coming out with the usual drivel promising more protection. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110127/video/vuk-anger-grows-ov er-forest-sell-off-pla-37e89e1.html Some late breaking news. Note that this is all slanted towards Forestry and Heritage Forests and as we all know this side of the Forestry Commission is the part that we are least interested in for our interest in Herpetofauna. There is no mention of the percentage of land put aside for conservation or public open access or its importance in the present F.C. system. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20110127/tuk-uk-britain-forests- fa6b408.html Please make certain that you keep an eye open to what is happening and put in an appeal for Herpetofauna Habitat in any public consultation. One of my F.C. contacts is worried that this may be rushed through before anyone has a chance to comment fully. David British Herpetological Society Librarian and member of B.H.S Conservation Committee. Self employed Herpetological Consultant and Field Worker. |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 27 Jan 2011 [QUOTE=David Bird] There are apparently several petitions around to try to stop this sell off [/QUOTE] The 38 Degrees petition (which seems to be the one with the most media coverage) has more than 250,000 signatures so far. |
- Sell off of OUR land |