IT is becoming clear that our Forest is in danger again.

When this government proposed selling off the forests and we all got together to stop it, we assumed that they would implement the report written by the Independent Panel on Forestry.

Instead, they have dithered and now they have brought forward a bill in the House of Lords that would, if passed unamended, allow the government to sell of any or all of our public forest estate and any other public land for development.

The government claims that it is only tidying up a few loose ends and that only "surplus" land will be sold – but it has refused to write that into the Bill.

In any case the definition of "surplus" includes any forestry land that is suitable for development. And our local councillors are not objecting – in fact, they're helping.

They are pushing ahead with a dangerous, expensive development that requires land from the Statutory Forest – and that very development will be used as a precedent to make it easier to repeat the destruction of priceless wildlife resources in other areas.

The Homes and Communities Agency issued a press release last week that suggested that there are no  technical problems that would make building on the Northern Quarter difficult, despite the Coal Authority demanding additional tests and objecting to the current plans because they place buildings over mine entrances.  

Submissions from the Environment Agency make it clear that the current plan places the college over a former landfill site of unknown stability and gas content and houses in areas prone to flooding.

To achieve the employment opportunities suggested in the HCA press release, the site will have to expand to include more Statutory Forest.

And this at a time when there are vacant lots in the Cinderford business park and also in Vantage Point. Who exactly is going to run businesses on these sites?

Who's going to stay in a grand hotel on an industrial estate next to a college?   And will the jobs in that hotel be well-paid or will they pay only enough to attract more immigrants?

The only reason the HCA is prepared to spend so much money to build on the Northern Quarter and pretend that the £14.75m coalfields regeneration funding cannot be spent anywhere else is to set a precedent that will allow it to start a massive land-grab that they hope will clear some of the government's massive debts.  

At the last full council, there was a motion on the agenda to support amendments to the Infrastructure Bill that would protect our Forest.

At the same meeting, despite charging us to park in Forest towns, they wasted time arguing about whether the Forestry Commission should provide free parking for Forest residents in Forestry Commission car parks.

There are things that you can do to call a halt to all this.

Firstly, with an election looming, it might be worth writing to your MP and your councillors – if you can use the internet, there's a resource called http://www.writetothem.com">www.writetothem.com that will help you do this.

Secondly, you can sign a 38 degrees petition to support the amendments to the Infrastructure Bill. And thirdly, you can write to your local paper and tell everyone what you think.

Of course, the people who ought to be leading on this are HOOF – but where are they? What do they think about the Northern Quarter?   Do they understand the dangers?

– Jacky Smith, Coalway.