Hugh Bayley: Why Ministers must expand our much-loved forests

I have just submitted my views to the panel. I want public forests to remain public, and over time for more land to be bought and planted by the Forestry Commission.

Public forests estate cost each of us 30p a year bring physical and mental health benefits from exercise and leisure. Unlike most private woodland the Forestry Commission’s land is OPEN to the public, and it includes 21,800 hectares in Yorkshire. If it is sold, there would be a drastic reduction in leisure benefits because private land does not offer the same access. However, if the public forest estate is expanded, recreational benefits will increase.

Forestry Commission land contains precious wildlife and helps combat the effects of climate change. A project in Pickering to plant trees and retain water has reduced flood risks near York. There would be few incentives for private landowners to invest in these schemes, protect endangered species, or offer education and learning activities for school children.

After the Government’s climbdown, I organised a celebratory ramble through Dalby Forest. Over 100 people attended and we saw examples of the good forestry management that is carried out by the Forestry Commission. I want the Government to expand the public forest estate to protect these standards and promote them more widely to all who manage forests. The Government still says it intends to sell 15 per cent of publicly-owned forest land, which could raise around £100m. This is a drop in the ocean of total government debt.

In May, it was announced that several Forestry Commission offices, including Clifton Moor and Wheldrake in York, would be closed. These cuts are a false economy because of the social and environmental benefits of public forests are worth around £600m per year, and the economic value of the timber will be lost if the land is sold.

The Forestry Commission was created after the First World War to reverse the long term trend of declining forest land. After the Second World War, government acquisitions increased the area of UK woodland cover from 5 per cent to 12 per cent. However, today England is one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with only nine per cent cover compared to the EU average of 37 per cent. If the coalition really intends to become “the greenest government ever”, it should expand the public forest estate, rather than sell it off.

My views are shared by The Woodland Trust, who want to see woodland in England doubled so that public forests generate more benefits for more people. The Ramblers and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds also favour a public forest estate that is able to increase the benefits it delivers. Environmental and countryside campaigners and members of the public support an expanded, rather than a diminished, public forest estate.

The Forestry Commission occasionally sells small tracts of land to acquire other land for forest use, particularly in areas close to centres of population. The previous Labour government sold some land of limited public benefit to finance the purchase of new land for tree planting and to provide woodland near urban areas.

No government should be able to sell off national assets when the public do not want this. In the 1990s, I led successful campaigns to keep public access to Howsham Wood, near York, and Hagg Wood in Dunnington. When the Government announced its latest plans to sell off land, I received over 400 complaints from constituents and held a public meeting in York attended by 250 people who opposed the plans.

We need public forests to steward biodiversity and protect public access. The aim should be to increase the public forest estate year on year to protect existing benefits and increase them further. Our public forests are part of our national heritage and should be protected for future generations. I have read reports that the panel could recommend enlarging the amount of woodland in public ownership. I hope this will be the case. The public consultation has closed but the panel plans to visit Yorkshire, which will allow those who love Yorkshire’s forests to attend and make their views known.

The Government was forced to listen to ordinary people and suspend all planned forest sales, but may still go ahead with privatising some of our forests. I believe the public forest estate must be protected and preserved, enhanced and improved, not sold.

* Hugh Bayley is the Labour MP for York Central