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25TH October 2010 Forestry Commission Sale of Land Yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph published a front page report with the headline “ For sale: Britain’s forests”, stating that the Government will shortly announce that the Forestry Commission will be required to “dispose” of up to half of its 1.85 million acres of land by 2020. This news follows the earlier announcement by the Government that the Forestry Commission is to be retained and substantially reformed. The Daily Telegraph’s report also revealed that about one third of the land to be disposed of would be transferred to “other ownership” between 2011 and 2015. Since the vast majority of the land within the New Forest’s perambulation is Crown Land, managed directly by the Forestry Commission, the Verderers are naturally concerned by this news, and will await the Secretary of State’s formal announcement for confirmation of what exactly is planned for the Forestry Commission. The Verderers totally understand the economic necessity for nation-wide cuts and that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which controls and funds the Forestry Commission, has not been spared, indeed it has been asked to make the greatest savings of all at some 29% over the next four years. The Verderers are nevertheless greatly encouraged by last week’s statement by the Secretary of State, Caroline Spelman, that the Government intends to be the “greenest in history”, re-stating its commitment to enhancing biodiversity and the environment, both of which were singled out as being top priorities. The Official Verderer, Mr Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre, said: “The New Forest is totally different from the vast majority of the rest of the Forestry Commission’s land holdings. It is not like a block of commercial woodland that can be simply sold off. This area is not only of enormous environmental importance, it has also been accessible to the people for their use and enjoyment for hundreds of years. That is how the very special traditions of common rights evolved. We have a complex balance here which allows recreation, common rights and conservation to successfully co-exist, and if the management and upkeep of the Forest’s 65,500 acres was to be taken away from the Forestry Commission, I am very worried that the system will be seriously de-stabilised. The New Forest needs and deserves specialist management that is free from the commercial demands and pressures that privatisation would bring. The New Forest is a national treasure, and I am confident that the Government, particularly because of its clearly stated top commitment to conservation, will quickly recognise that the Open Forest is best managed directly by the Forestry Commission on behalf of the nation.” END
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