There is rampant controversy about an alleged proposal to sell off the Forest. A steering group has been set up to oppose any sale and both the Review and our sister paper, The Forester have been running petitions to oppose the sale through the Hands Off Our Forest campaign. In the midst of this it is vitally important that our representative in Parliament, Mark Harper MP, is given full opportunity to express his views and the views of the Coalition Government.

Read what he has to say...

'Everything people value about the Dean is protected' by Mark Harper MP

At the start of this month the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Jim Paice MP, wrote to all MPs outlining the Government's new approach to Forestry in the UK.

The speculation that surfaced in the national press the weekend before the letter's publication led to some confusion about the Government's plans and I have been contacted by constituents wanting clarity.

I can assure them that everything people value about the Forest of Dean is protected.

My constituents will be pleased to know that the Minister's letter contained explicit protection "of our most valuable and biodiverse forests", as well as a commitment that "full measures will remain in place to preserve the public benefits of woods and forests under any new ownership arrangements", and that "public rights of way and access will be unaffected, stat­utory protection for wildlife will remain in force and there will be grant incentives for new planting".

With all those guarantees in place I'm sure people reading this will ask what's the point in taking woodlands like the Forest of Dean out of State ownership, after all who is going to want to buy it if they have to preserve all those public benefits and comply with all the laws and regulations on conservation?

The answer to that question is people like us, the residents of the Forest of Dean, the people who care most about the Forest and its future. What the Government wants to do is open up the exciting opportunity for community ownership of forests and woodlands. Rather than being owned and run by the national government, as a result of the Government's policy the Forest of Dean could, in future, be run by a local not for profit organisation owned by local people and run for our benefit and on our behalf.

The idea of a Forest based charitable trust to run the Forest with local people as shareholders has already been floated by Councillor Stephen McMillan and I know there are others seriously thinking about this idea. And should the idea of a Forest of Dean charitable trust start to get added momentum then in the future it would be local people who decide on the priorities for the Forest and benefit from it instead of central government.

That is what this plan is really all about. What the Government wants to do is shift the balance of power from "Big Government" to "Big Society" by giving individuals, businesses, civil society organisations and local authorities a bigger role in protecting the natural environment and a much bigger say about our priorities for it.

The Government's plan is not to open the door to our Forest being sold off to build sports complexes or spa resorts as some people have claimed. This isn't possible, not simply because of government guarantees given by the minister, but because there are already various legal safeguards to ensure felling of existing woodland can't take place without a Forestry Commission licence. Further, any proposed developments would be subject to the Town and Country Planning process and there are regulations covering replanting, as well as provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act to protect biodiversity.

People who were worried about our Forest by news reports should be reassured now that the Government's plans have been set out. The Government is committed to ensuring that it takes all possible steps to protect the things people value about our woodlands, which is why these plans will be consulted on and when that consultation begins I'd encourage my constituents to send in their views and let me have a copy as well.

The Coalition believes that the best way to protect things is not to have them run from London but to have them run as locally as possible. The people who live closest to the Forest and have the strongest ties to it will do a better job of looking after it than people in an office in Whitehall.

Having lived in the Forest of Dean for almost half my adult life I would be inclined to agree with that idea and I think that the opportunity to own our own Forest is not one local people should give up lightly.