STILL no disrespect to the gentleman from Cinderford Town Council, but some of the remarks made in his recent letter ('The Northern Quarter', Review, w/e 16 Dec 2011) require a little amplification. The Christmas truce is over now, and some of the assertions he makes about the Cinderford Northern Arc plan require some scrutiny.

I'm afraid the various maps shown on the FODDC's own website do indeed show developments being built on the area immediately surrounding the angling lake, contrary to what the gentleman claims. This is clearly shown in detail as being the case, and much of the perimeter of the lake will be enclosed by buildings, some of a considerable elevation. Hence the concerns about the dangers posed to wildlife and flora, and the loss of the scenic beauty and amenity value of the lake and its setting. And yes, there will be considerable felling of trees nearby, hence the concerns raised by the Woodland Trust and other organisations in their written submissions.

The likelihood of further, as yet unspecified, development taking place along both sides of the projected spine road as the years go by point up the probability of the area being increasingly smothered in bricks and mortar, and the eventual outcome being a new township being put in place, separated from Cinderford only by the current industrial site. By which time, of course, pretty much all the bland assurances that wildlife, plants and nature will be "protected" will have been entirely forgotten. Urban sprawl, in other words.

I am not greatly impressed by assertions that "Vast amounts of research have been carried out on the wildlife of this site by experts." The recent public inquiry into the Arc project was attended by the representatives of more wildlife and environmental protection groups than I could comfortably shake a stick at, not to mention several more such bodies submitting lengthy and detailed written objections to the proposals. They would hardly have gone to the considerable trouble they clearly took if they had confidence in these assurances, and personally I'd say the views of these seasoned professionals are of far more worth than those of a few unidentified (and no doubt well remunerated) tame "experts" hired by the council to give the "right" verdict.

The gentleman's attempts to align himself and the town council with HOOF and claim a leading role in "the greatest fight of all against the greatest threat of all" (the selling-off of the UK's publicly-owned woodlands to private buyers) is a little at odds with my own recollections of that particular time. I seem to remember Dean Forest Voice and several other non-politically-aligned individuals as having been the immediate initial prime movers in that campaign, and as having had a far greater effect than the various politicos who weighed-in a little afterwards. 

I recall attending a public meeting at the Miners' Welfare Hall a fortnight before Christmas 2010, to discuss the threats both to local public services (closures or cuts to daycare centres, voluntary services, libraries etc.), and  to the Dean woodlands. I'm happy to say that Cinderford Town Council clearly were on top of their game over the services issue, but far less time was allocated to the woodlands problem, and it degenerated mostly into a fairly obvious game of political point-scoring, in which a motion of "no confidence" was carried against the local MP for supporting his government's proposals rather than side with his own constituents.

I have absolutely no problem with this, or with the emphasis given to the services side of the debate, but I left the hall privately wondering whether I'd just participated in a party-political rally rather than an impassioned debate on saving our forests and services. This impression was not helped by one of the councillors reminding the audience of a planned demonstration on Speech House Field early in 2011, and his disparaging aside "if you want to stand around in a muddy field".

In the event, this well-organised (by Dean Forest Voice and other independent individuals) rally was attended by well over 3,000 people, who clearly had no qualms about braving mud and discomfort for several hours on a bitterly cold, sleeting day. Among the various entertainments on the field that afternoon was the sight of those same councillors walking around looking a bit abashed at the strength of the turnout. It's probably unwise to underestimate good old-fashioned apolitical "people power".

It's worth pointing out that Cinderford Town Council aren't always as environmentally concerned as they sometimes claim to be, particularly when their beloved pet projects are involved. They have some "form" in scuppering measures and initiatives which, if allowed to stand, might have contributed greatly to the security and preservation of the Dean's woodlands and wild areas. They were virtually singlehandedly responsible (in league with local Tories and the MP) in stopping us having that "special protection" status their own party had promised us, which is why the Dean has missed out on AONB status.

They were highly vocal (again, together with the Tories and the MP) in shrieking for the wild boar to be culled, and now these creatures are as hard to find as the deer (also over-culled and heavily poached).

They've given up on protecting the Linear Park, whatever their council election leaflets say, and that area is heavily vandalised and haunted by night-time drinkers and drugtakers. And Cinderford itself is a litter-strewn urban wasteland now, after all the estates and housing developments crammed into it over the last few years. And still it's not enough – more estates, more social problems, this time smack-bang in the middle of invaluable wildlife-and-flora-rich woodland and grassland. If they find living in a rural area so tiresome, could they not just pack their bags and relocate to an urban zone, rather than bring the latter here?

It's admirable to want to help "another generation of young Foresters", but there are many houses standing unsold and unwanted in Cinderford already that could be brought up to scratch by local builders and tradesmen and used to provide good-quality homes for young families. And many of Cinderford's young are in any case going to be squeezed-out of employment chances at Northern Arc by virtue of the latter project concentrating more on jobs for more highly-qualified applicants, rather than the industrial units and small factory units that catered for wider ability levels.

Expect much of the Arc's housing and employment opportunities to go to applicants from other parts of the Forest and elsewhere. And a more genuine concern to help the young would probably take a serious look at limiting the availability of cheap alcohol on sale in six-packs and the like – the sheer number of lager cans lying around Cinderford's streets, estates and public spaces, together with the abundant evidence of drug abuse and fast-food detritus, show only too well how many of the town's kids aren't going to make it to a ripe old age. But they've pretty much been abandoned to this lifestyle, haven't they? 

I am genuinely grateful to the gentleman's having worked so tirelessly and selflessly in causing the Linear Park to come into being. It's Cinderford's jewel in the crown, and long may it run. And it's a credit to his efforts. But it's difficult to see how he can possibly realistically protect it from any possible threats to its continuance in its present open-to-all form if the land has been transferred to the Forestry Commission, whose financial stablity and very existence are by no means assured.

Nor can much confidence be placed in the FC's pledge to "keep the park as open space and protect the area around the lake".

The threat to the UK's publicly-owned woodlands will continue to return from time to time down the years – I'll repeat, every bit as likely under a Labour government as under the more ideologically biased Tory one – simply because of the need to cut the budget deficit through sales of public assets. If any one such bid succeeds, neither the forestry nor the town council will be of much use in stopping this happening, simply because the Linear Park will now be a state-owned asset and thus open to disposal  by any government that can get away with it. As indeed, Church Bank will be.

I note nothing seems to have been said about this latter area, which of course would be eagerly seized on by housing developers. Why the coy silence?  Any deals in the offing?  Because it doesn't need a full-scale government-led privatisation of public woods to endanger both the Park and the Bank – simple financial hardship and a need to balance the books would force the forestry to offload such land to the private market, so long as other land elsewhere was offered them in return to make the acreage up. So nothing's safe here.

I sometimes wish there could be a whole lot less of this cruising along at a permanent altitude of 9,000 feet courtesy of a lifelong ticket aboard Regeneration Airlines, planning what Cinderford will be like 30 years from now, and a bit more of returning to earth with a bump to take a good, hard look at what the town's turned into over the last few years.

Because – and as a lifelong resident with good recall I have a right to say this – it's a bit of a hole, isn't it?

Everywhere you go you see ugliness. Piles of drink cans and bottles decorating every flower­bed or grassy stretch; chip papers and kebab containers piling up under the wind in every nook and cranny; used nappies and bags of excrement dangling from shrubs in the borders along estate pathways. Not a vision of loveliness, is it?

And yet a few years back it wasn't like this. It's always been a rugged, down-to-earth town – wouldn't change it a bit, if I wanted to live in Hyacinth Bucket land I'd move to Dymock – but it's gone beyond that now and become a hopeless case which no amount of makeovers are going to improve unless some of the inhabitants have a change of heart, mind and lifestyle.

I no longer do my main shop on a Saturday evening any more, simply because I don't enjoy the experience of walking through the town at that time. There's nothing I'm afraid of – it's a remarkably safe town to live in, despite appearances. It's just that, while I tend to think that if people want to walk around with a can of Tennant's Extra-Strength superglued to their mitt, or smoke marijuana (or worse) openly in the streets, or drive around one-handedly with a mobile conspicuously clamped to their lughole and an ugly moronic smirk permanently fixed to their face, so as to demonstrate just how "well hard" they are, good luck to 'em, and let's hope they never have to suffer from the stupidity of their actions.

But I don't actually want to see all this. But see it you do, all over town, any day of the week and pretty much any hour of the day or night. And I would vote for Pol Pot or Stalin if either of them returned to life, promised to clean the town of this filth, and actually did do so.

But none of the present political contenders can be bothered to even notice all this, too busy are they changing the deckchair order while the ship goes down. And some want a new estate down at Steam Mills, to bring even more of these problems.

All of which is why I won't be voting in Thursday's council elections. Or in any forthcoming  general election. What's the point, when those elected get in and wreck things still further.

– Andrew Stephens