IN common with many district and parish councillors, I have received a copy of a letter addressed to Lydney Town Council from MP Mark Harper.

In this pre-emptive letter about a forthcoming presentation by HOOF, he is both rude and disingenuous – pre-judging events to suit his own political agenda.

This is unlike his predecessor, MP Paul Marland, and Head Verderer, Dr Cyril Hart, who acted courteously when they led our campaign to save and exempt the Dean Forest from sale.

Indeed, MP Paul Marland described those who attempted to sell our heritage woodland as "marauding investors" and he criticised his own government's policy on forestry as "greedy" – yet Mark Harper and the current local Labour Party are proposing to starting to phase to sales of 200 acres of the Forest. On the one hand, MP Mark writes about his commitment to retain "particularly our heritage woodland like the Forest of Dean" in public ownership, but at the same time, he justifies the illegal proposals to sell off vast tracts of sacred and fragile key wildlife site and miners' memorial land.

He has again resurrected his quest to retain government options on forest land sales which dates back to 1981 and 2010.

Mark denounces Foresters' birthright to block sales of public woodlands and he vehemently continues his tirade against protecting our woodlands, fauna and flora.

He poses the question "who guards the Guardians?" Has he really not heard of the democratically elected vederers.

He and successive national governments and district members still scheme to destroy by 'exchange and sell plans' where proceeds over two hectares go the Crown Commissioners anyway.

What sort of accountants are these politicians who have already squandered over £10 million on what is special here in the Dean and built up a funding gap of £3.8 million on the most dangerously undermined and waterlogged land imaginable?

Finally it would be good if people appreciated the wonderful environment along Steam Mills, perhaps apart from the protected species of bats, crested newts, crossbills and woodpeckers and turtle doves, we have over 1,000 anthills among which we find the formica picea, a rare shiny black ant, which nests in tussocks in marshy ground.

In waterlogged and poor soils these amazing creatures build their environment over years where only a third of their habitat can be seen.

Such complex and underground colonies are impossible to move by physical translocation, therefore imagine the cruel destruction of these rare creatures that share our land

– Andrew Gardiner, Ruardean.