RECENT rude letters from Steve MacMillan accuse Baroness

Royall and Me (and "our ilk") of being small-minded, and

asks the local press "not to pander" to the 'hysterical few!'

What an utter ass he is making of himself, since

there is a growing number of similarly small-minded

people organising themselves into a unified group

determined to stop this idiotic idea to privatise our Forest

woodlands. I understand that our local newspapers are

being deluged by angry privatisation protests. So, Cllr

MacMillan take note, eat humble pie and admit that the

"hysterical few" are rapidly becoming the angry many.

Our MP, Mark Harper is, to his peril, either

completely out of touch with the opinions of the local

electorate, or else branzenly determined to ignore his

prime responsibility of representing the views of his

constituents in parliament.

He certainly lacks the wisdom and intergity of his

predecessor, Paul Marland, who whilst first supporting the

then Tory government's wishes to sell off the Dean's

woodlands, was to see where his bread was buttered and,

in 1993, wisely changed his stance and chose to support

the thousands of Foresters in opposing his nonsense.

Where was Steve MacMillan then? Is he unaware of this

recent piece of Forest history and the passion of Foresters

over their beloved woods?

What he and Mark Harper are obviously unaware of is

that, to generations of Forest children, these woodlands

were our playgrounds where we indulged our childhood

fantasies. These memories are deep-rotted within us, but

such concepts are utterly lost on our MP, Steve MacMillan

and their "ilk."

To support the outrageous idea of privatising the

Forest is to also support a chiselling away at

parliamentary democracy since, in this controversial bill,

any future adjustments to the management of the nation's

woodlands would not need to go through parliament as

such changes would solely be in the hands of the

appropriate minister. Nice one, Steve.

– Colin Smith, Friends of the Forest.