There will be a film broadcast, on the BBC2 Newsnight programme, about the proposed sale of the public forest estate in England. The film will feature a range of interviews from different stakeholders, including myself, prior to a studio debate.
Update … the film was broadcast on Wednesday 26th January. See here.
Gabriel Hemery
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Its all well and good suggesting that we may well be better off engaging with the forests in a more involved way but to do this we have to own them. Now don’t get me wrong but are we or are we not in the middle of a recession? Where are we, the people going to find the money to buy these forests? Will the corporations who intend to purchase them not just simply out bid us on all fronts?
There are no protections for the forests in that direction….sorry. The ideas are sound but the application right now is totally beyond our local communities to even consider a bid.
Besides the forests have already been allocated new owners behind closed doors in special deals by the disingenuous government. Remember they are tories after all and the rich are there to get richer whilst we can only but dream of buying our own woodland to protect it for the future generations to come. Don’t believe me? All you have to do is wait and see how long after the sale starts before the bids are in. You can bet they will be up and at them well in advance because they already know whats for sale and what price it is.