WELL, one year on from the start of foot and mouth and the slaughter of all the Forest sheep and we have not seen any part of the Forest or grass verges as overgrown as some people would have us believe.
In fact we have seen the opposite. No dead sheep on the side of the road and no mess on the pavements at Bream, Whitecroft or Parkend.
But now back to reality. Some time in April the Forestry Commission and the Commoners' Association, under a new Agreement (which is not legally binding), will reintroduce sheep back into the Forest, which will be supposedly policed by themselves. To think these people can police this by themselves, I think not.
I have been told by the district council that they have offered, as part of the new Agreement, to help remove any sheep that may stray into towns or villages.
Does this mean that the time they spend rounding up sheep will be paid for out of our council tax? You better believe it, because that's what is going to happen – the money won't come from the Forestry Commission or the sheep badgers, but from our council tax. Yes! We will be paying for the return of the sheep ourselves.
If the new Agreement is to work, is there going to be a 24 hour phone number to ring and will it be manned by the Forestry Commission or by the district council? Will the sheep be marked this time so that we all know whom the sheep belong to and this time be able to claim for any damage done, as I am led to believe that this time they will have to take out public liability insurance.
So can we have a table of all the new markings with names against them so that we know who the owners are and can we be issued with the 24 hour telephone number to ring if we need to complain?
Hopefully this will all be paid for by the right people, the Forestry Commission, and not our council tax. – A true Forester, Coalway.