worth a read through before the meeting: Amendments have now been tabled by Lord Davies of Oldham, Lord McKenzie of Luton and Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, see publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2014-2015/0002/amend/am002-c.htm Part 3 of the Bill and Clause 21 (which applies to land disposal - publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2014-2015/0002/lbill_2014-20150002_en_4.htm#pt3-pb3-l1g21), were told, and amendments will be examined by the House of Lords Grand Committee on July 10. They will not vote at this stage. After Committee stage, the Bill will then go to Reports, where if the amendments havent been accepted by the Government, a vote may be taken. After the third reading in the House of Lords, the Bill will pass through the House of Commons. We Forest of Dean campaigners at HOOF have produced a template letter to send to Lords which is suitable for all public woodlands across the country. We recommend you send letters and emails to crossbenchers, bishops and non-party-affiliated lords and ladies. Some of their emails can be found here: parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/ Also... Im quite concerned there has been only one article in the national mainstream media and nothing on TV or radio about the Infrastructure Bill which - if unamended - will enable the sell-off of all public land in England and Wales. As a petition gained 25,000 names in four days (it has now passed its sell-by date of June 18, but another petition will be launched soon, Im told) I would have thought that was newsworthy - plus the actual threat of ALL PUBLIC LAND BEING SOLD... hello, media!!! Thanks to George Monbiot for raising the issue in the Guardian, though: theguardian/commentisfree/2014/jun/23/small-print-public-land-infrastructure-bill-lords-uk Heres a piece Ive written for The Ecologist giving background to our ongoing battle to save forests: theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2447901/save_our_public_lands_and_forests.html In the Lords debate on June 18 and in press releases, the Government is now saying only surplus land will be transferred via the Homes & Communities Agency (despite it not appearing in the Bill - one amendment hopes to rectify this). However, I think you have to be a civil servant to gain access to the surplus land database here: https://epims.ogc.gov.uk/ePIMSNet/epims_login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fepimsnet%2fdefault.aspx If you live in the Forest of Dean you may have heard we have called on our MP to support an exemption for the Public Forest Estate without success. Other MPs may be more amenable, so are worth contacting. Below is the template letter. Bear in mind that it is relevant to protecting the Public Forest Estate. That is the remit of Hands Off Our Forest. Its good also to see the Woodland Trust is backing an exemption for the Public Forest Estate. But all public land is at risk, so please get on to it in your locale! Below is the template letter. It should be available on the HOOF website handsoffourforest.org from tomorrow. Follow us on Twitter @handsoffdean and Facebook: https://facebook/pages/Hands-Off-Our-Forest-of-Dean/137509286301120?ref_type=bookmark Sorry for the long email, hope you read it :) The Infrastructure Bill and Forestry (Grand Committee, House of Lords, July 10) Dear Many of us have been campaigning for new legislation to give lasting protection to our Public Forest Estate since it was threatened by sell-off in 2010. We are disappointed that a draft forestry bill has not been introduced, despite pledges from the Government. And we are now extremely alarmed that the Infrastructure Bill, which was introduced on June 5 this year, poses a considerable threat to our public woodlands. Clause 21 of the Infrastructure Bill, in its current form, enables the transfer of any public land through the Homes and Communities Agency to developers. Therefore, I am writing to you to ask if you will support amendments to Clause 21 in Part 3 of the Infrastructure Bill tabled by Lord Davies of Oldham, Lord McKenzie of Luton, and Baroness Royall of Blaisdon to help protect our Public Forest Estate (PFE) from future disposal. These are due to be debated in the House of Lords on July 10, and I hope you will be able to attend on that day and lend your support. Baroness Kramer, who has introduced the Bill to the Lords, gave a verbal assurance during the Second Reading on June 18 that none of the PFE will be affected by the transfer scheme. We welcome that assurance, but ask that it be confirmed in statute as present assurance and government policy are not binding on future administrations. As regards surplus land the current Defra policy states: “The Forestry Commission holds land for landscape value, recreational activity and commercial forestry. Due to the nature of the forestry estate it is not expected to yield large scale development opportunities for any purpose other than forestry, but where commercial development potential is identified and can be exploited in a manner consistent with wider objectives there is a commitment to investigate this opportunity.” The wording is capable of an interpretation permitting development for purposes other than forestry where justified by wider objectives (i.e. wider than forestry) and thus would seem to be inconsistent with the 31st January 2013 Policy Statement. This is all the more reason to secure an exemption. In 2011, with the support of Bishops and Peers, we averted the threatened disposal of our public forests and woodlands by making amendments to the Public Bodies Bill. We now ask if you will support suitable amendments to the Infrastructure Bill to protect our treasured public woodlands. The particular amendments to the Infrastructure Bill which we are asking you to support on July 10 are as follows: Clause 21 LORD DAVIES OF OLDHAM LORD MCKENZIE OF LUTON Page 22, line 24, at end insert— “( ) No property will be transferred to the HCA under any such scheme unless it has been classified as surplus.” Page 22, line 24, at end insert— “( ) No property will be transferred to the HCA under any such scheme without the consent of the government department or agency which owns it or is the sponsoring department of the specified public body.” Page 22, line 24, at end insert— “( ) No part of the Public Forest Estate will be transferred to the HCA.” BARONESS ROYALL OF BLAISDON LORD MCKENZIE OF LUTON Page 23, line 3, at end insert— “(8) This section and section 53B do not have effect in relation to property, rights or liabilities comprising the whole or any part of the Public Forest Estate. (9) The Public Forest Estate comprises all the land, property, rights and liabilities acquired by the Minister under section 39 of the Forestry Act 1967 including all such land not needed, or not used, for the purpose of afforestation or any purpose connected with forestry.”
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:47:53 +0000
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