THIS is a second open letter to Mark Harper MP. 

'When I wrote to you yesterday I had not seen the Secretary of State's letter to Coalition MPs.  In it Mrs Spelman writes: "There will be no sale of Heritage Forests to the commercial or private sector – and we will bring forward an amendment to the Public Bodies Bill to give this the force of law."

This goes further than her earlier indication that amendments would be introduced to safeguard the public benefits provided by the public forest estate and suggests a recognition that the proposals relating to the management and/or ownership of Heritage Forests by a charity do not go far enough to secure those woodlands for future generations.

You are aware of the amendment to the Bill standing in the names of the Lord Bishop of Gloucester, Baroness Fritchie, Baroness Royall and Lord Clark of Windermere which seeks to secure the retention of Section 39(2A) of the Forestry Act 1967, the exemption of the Forest of Dean from disposal. It appears to me that that amendment and the Secretary of State's realisation that the proposals in the consultation document do not go far enough to protect the Heritage Forests affords an opportunity for all concerned to enter into discussions as to how the Bill might best be amended to secure what evidently all concerned want, namely, the statutory protection of the Forest of Dean and other Heritage Forests. 

Please will you help to bring these discussions about.'

– Alan Robertson.