THE Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Rev Michael Perham, addressed the House of Lords on Monday about the Public Bodies Bill and the future of the Forest of Dean.

Speaking about the removal of forestry interests from the bill the Bishop said: "I am glad indeed to have no need to move my amendment relating to the Forest of Dean.

"There was, as noble lords are aware, particular anxiety, indeed anger, in the Forest of Dean, which falls within the Diocese of Gloucester, at the proposals to legislate in regard to forestry without regard for the special status of the Forest of Dean that had been recognised in earlier legislation.

"The government has wisely withdrawn all the clauses relating to forestry. When the government, however, returns at some point with new and different proposals relating to the future of forests, I hope they will at that point recognise that when people speak of 'the Forest of Dean' they are talking not about a collection of trees, but about a series of communities with a common sense of identity.

"People call themselves "foresters" simply because the Forest of Dean is where they live and their sense of identity comes more from the Forest than from the particular towns, villages and hamlets that are part of it.

"To talk about changes in ownership, with even the smallest possibility of withdrawal of access or unwelcome development, is to provoke a deep emotional response in people who have, in many cases, inhabited the Forest for many generations.

"That (is) quite apart from the more general issues of the ownership and stewardship of the forests on which the government has wisely changed its mind.

"I am grateful, my Lords, to the government for withdrawing the clauses that they have, rendering my own amendment obsolete, and the people of the Forest of Dean, I can assure the House, are both relieved and elated by the sense that they have seen off a particularly ill-thought through policy."

•A debate on the 'disposal of the Forestry Commission Estate' will be held this Thursday (March 3) in the Lords. The debate is being introduced by Lord Clark of Windemere and follows the government's abandonment of its consultation on disposal of the forest estate in England (including the Dean) and clauses in the forthcoming Public Bodies Bill to give ministers power to dispose of the estate to private businesses or charity trusts.