The Forestry Commission acquired 6,499 acres in 1997/8 but privatised 91 public woodlands last year, comprising 8,364 acres. The sales included Hazelhead and Seaton Ross Woods totalling 262 acres in North Yorkshire. The buyers and prices were not disclosed. A foreign toxic waste company? The right to roam is lost as is proper conservation control.
More than 2,800 of our woodlands have been privatised since 1981, about one half of the original number. The Government has slowed down the sell-off but has reneged on its election pledge by allowing sales to well exceed acquisitions.
Philip Greig,
Bridge Farm,
Hannington Wick,
Swindon,
Wilts.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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