ALONG with family and friends we spend time walking and observing wildlife within our woodlands, and last week I prepared an amendment to Cllr Don Pugh's district council motion concerning the wild boar.

His desktop and reported bullet in the head approach was a typical piece of scare-mongering.

The man never considered the way these vulnerable animals are being disturbed from their habitats deep in the forest by relentless tree felling.

He preached about their diseases which is also a below the belt piece of scaremongering. He claimed the disturbance of the nocturnal nightjar, yet I have never seen him on our walks during the late evening where these amazing birds inhabit the open forests – here we listen also to boar moving  freely and mooting for groundnuts.

Nature coexists and it does not need the philosophy being preached by Cllr Pugh. The future for all large animals must be guided by the Commoners' Association, because animals right are vested in them.

They have the expertise to advise on minimising adverse impacts on settlements of the Forest.

– Cllr Andrew Gardiner, Ruardean.