News from Plymouth Labour

Tories to sell Dartmoor and Devon forests

Labour has pledged to fight Conservative plans to sell Devon and Dartmoor woodland “all the way” as the government prepares to axe publicly owned woodland in the county.

Plans by the Conservative-led government to privatise the Forestry Commission’s entire forest reserve would mean local woodlands at Cann Wood in Plympton and across Dartmoor would be sold to the highest bidder putting the right of local people to enjoy them free of charge at risk.

Labour is warning that the Tory-led government wants to sell an area of public forests the size of Plymouth. Figures prepared by the House of Commons Library show that there is some 7,423 ha of forests across the county owned by the Forestry Commission – which is nearly the size of Plymouth (7,925ha). The Tories have form of selling public woodland. In their last 17 years in office they have sold 144,000 ha of woodland across the UK – the equivalent of 20 cities the size of Plymouth.

Cllr Tudor Evans, Leader of the Labour Group on Plymouth City Council said: “Having axed our warships in the dockyard and cut our schools and universities, the Tories now want to sell off our local woods. This shows that there is nothing they won’t sell off to the highest bidder.”

“If the government is serious about wanting to preserve our woodlands as a place for recreation, conservation and enjoyment they need only do one thing – don’t sell them. The idea that private owners will not restrict access rights for the public or increase tree felling is simply nonsense.”

Luke Pollard, who was Labour’s General Election candidate in South West Devon which covers Cann Wood said: “The Tories want us to believe that selling the woods will somehow benefit local people – the truth is that access, conservation and biodiversity are all at risk if Devon and Dartmoor’s woods are sold. The only way to guarantee that Cann Wood in Plymouth remains free and open to the public is to stop the sale.”

“People across Plymouth and Devon want to save our local woods from being sold off by the Tories and we’re going to start a local grassroots movement to stop them. If the government thinks they can sell Cann Wood and sell Dartmoor’s forests without a fight, they’ve made a terrible mistake. Local people will fight these sales all the way.”

“Labour’s message to people who use the wood is simple – back our campaign and stop the sale. It is time we fought for our wood to remain free and open. We must stop the Tories taking an axe to our local forests.”

Plymouth Labour will be working with the local community to start a campaign to save Cann Wood and other woodlands on Dartmoor from being sold. Each year tens of thousands of local people use the woods to relax and unwind. If sold off to the highest bidder, we’re worried that access rights will not be preserved and local people will once again lose out.”

Other news from Plymouth Labour

• Activists restart Plymstock Party as Labour targets local elections - 12 December 2011
• Plymouth politicians launch petition to keep adventure activities safety law - 6 December 2011
• "Keep Moor View in Plymouth" boundary campaign launched - 7 November 2011