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| Photo is not from the article. |
There is an interesting piece in today's Sunday Times written by Jonathan Leake and Selina Cuff. Here are some of the highlights from the article:
The government's Forestry Commission has quietly sold off 30,000 acres of English woodland, with many sites snapped up by private owners who have greatly reduced or banned public access.
...Westwood Forest had been quietly sold in February last year to a private timber company which then restricted public access to the legal minimum - which in this case is a single footpath.
in 2009 alone, 51 sites were sold, totalling 2,500 acres, with another 37 woods covering 2,000 acres sold last year.
...woodland sales can see the public effectively excluded by new landowners through the removals of car parks and direction signs, and the introduction of fences, gates, warning notices....
Riggs Wood, near Coniston in the Lake District, was sold last October....once it had been purchased, locals found access to the parking area was blocked and signs were erected warning that the woods were "private property".
Save Britain's Forests, Save Lakeland Forests and Hands Off Forest of Dean are also mentioned in this article.
The full article can be read in The Sunday Times.
Thank you,
May
SBF
