Hugh Bayley: We must keep up our fight to save the freedom of England’s precious forests

The meeting was attended by 250 people – bird watchers, cyclists, walkers and members of voluntary bodies ranging from Friends of the Earth to the British Horse Society.

They opposed the sale of public forests to private timber companies because they feared the new owners would reduce public access and cut spending on protecting wildlife and public education about nature and the countryside.

The overwhelming public opposition forced the Government to retreat. Last month, they admitted they got it wrong, apologised and announced that all planned forest sales would be suspended, for the time being.

The campaign was supported by the Labour Party but led by community groups, voluntary bodies and ordinary people in Yorkshire and throughout the country who simply love the forests and want to continue to enjoy them. The “Big Society” spoke and I’m glad the Government was forced to listen.

However, the campaign is not over. The Government still intends to sell 15 per cent of English Forestry Commission land, but has simply delayed the sale. An independent panel is being set up to consider the future of England’s forests. This panel is expected to report in the autumn, after which the Government will decide upon the future of our public forests.

I have consistently argued for public access to and public ownership of Forestry Commission woodlands.

I launched my own “Save our Forests” campaign in York in 1993 when the previous Conservative government tried to sell off public forests, and led successful campaigns to keep public access to woodlands like Howsham Wood, near York, and Hagg Wood in Dunnington.

The Forestry Commission manages over 250,000 hectares of land in England, including 21,800 hectares in Yorkshire and the Humber. I don’t believe that private owners would be as good as the Forestry Commission at protecting biodiversity and promoting public access.

The Forestry Commission buys and sells small amounts of land all the time. New land is bought for tree planting and to provide woodland near urban areas and this is financed by selling other land with mature trees.

The last Labour Government bought 5,400 hectares and sold 9,500 – a net sale of 4,100 hectares. This was very different from the last Conservative government which sold 179,000 hectares, not to buy new land but because selling public assets to private owners was seen as an end in itself.

WH Auden, a great son of York, wrote that “a culture is no better than its woods”. Public forests are part of our national heritage, like Fountains Abbey or the Mallard in the National Railway Museum.

They are just as precious as a Turner painting or the Crown Jewels and should not be sold off to the highest bidder.

I am organising a celebration and ramble through Dalby Forest this weekend to mark World Forest Day, to be shown the Forestry Commission’s good work on conservation, education and improving public access.

Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, Mary Creagh, will be attending and I have received acceptances from more than 80 people so far.

We are meeting at 11am on Sunday at the Forestry Commission’s Visitor Centre on the A169 Pickering to Whitby road. Dalby Forest is a lovely place but it could still be sold, depending on the findings of the independent panel. So come to enjoy it while you still can.

We do not yet know who will sit on the Government’s review panel or what its terms of reference will be. Neither do we know if they will meet in public.

It is important for the panel to take account of the views of environmental and countryside campaigners and members of the public. We must keep the pressure up, so that the Government knows the strength of opposition to forest privatisation.

Due to the coalition’s budget cuts across government, the Forestry Commission is being forced to cut its staff by a quarter over the next three months. The Government will not be able to deliver better woodland access and biodiversity with fewer foresters. We will have foresters with us on Sunday to show us the Forestry Commission’s good work on forestry management.

The Government’s climbdown on forest privatisation last month was a victory for people power. However, the fight is not over. I hope the panel will recommend that public forests remain public.

But in the meantime, I hope that people will join me on the ramble this Sunday; to celebrate what is great about our public forests and to show the Government that the “Save our Forests” campaign is as vocal as ever.

Hugh Bayley is the Labour MP for York Central.