Forest for sale

gommencal

Call me doubting Thomas, but i simply do not believe that we will have the same access to the forests when they have been flogged off nice and cheaply to the Tory's business chums.
Wonder what the private sector can do differently than the forestry commission to make profit from the woods?......I know lets charge for entry?
I thought at least I will have Lee quarry to ride in, but my god, it was on the news that they want to sell some of those off also....is nothing sacred to the greedy bar-stewards.
I understand that there is a protest in Grizedale this Saturday, thinks i will be going to that, we need to let them know that they cant just do what they want willy nilly like...........so shout out boys before its too late! cause when its gone its gone for good.

blister pus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... t-sell-off

^ it's not a done deal yet, you've got a 3 month consultation, so get signing a petition and start screaming your bollocks off...

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save ... s#petition

Anonymous

Several threads on this already.
I'm starting to get the impression that people are joining up just to push this agenda.

D-Cyph3r

The forests sell-off could raise £150-250m over 10 years

Jesus christ, that wouldn't even cover the tories tea bill for however long they stay in, whats the point for such little gain?

Gazlar

As I said in a different thread about this, it really does depend on how its done and who its sold to. Although there is other considerations to take in account (see the save the lake district thread in general) Llandegla is an example of what can be done with private tennants. I went there yesterday, paid for the car park in the cafe because the machines were broken but then forgot to put the ticket in the car. All i got under the windscreen wiper was a polite note saying how to pay, and if I had, they were sorry to hassle me. No attempt to extract every last penny from me.

With the right landowners, the investment from a private company could open up all kinds of new possibilities, but I also understand the fears of what a bad landowner could do, and in the wrong hands, that could be dangerous

cat_with_no_tail

Chop them all down and build more carparks and apartments. That'll learn 'em!, bIoody trees!

tlw1

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Chop them all down and build more carparks and apartments. That'll learn 'em!, bIoody trees!

can I have the wood, we are running a bit low at home

projectsome

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-pfeconsultation

I'm sure there'll be a similar site for consultations in your area.

cat_with_no_tail

matthew h wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Chop them all down and build more carparks and apartments. That'll learn 'em!, bIoody trees!

can I have the wood, we are running a bit low at home

I'll give you wood in a minute.

Gazlar

You've not got a good wood giving in you!

cat_with_no_tail

I've got so much wood it'd make your head spin.

Gazlar

You wouldn't know a good wood it it slapped you in the face and said "hi, I'm Woody McGood, the goodest wood in the Good Wood Club"

agg25

I sent my rant to Jennifer Long defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk and will hit the streets if need be. I advise others to do the same, act now or forever be bent over.

Hello Jennifer,

Well you already know what the public wants, 87% of people responded they don't want the forests sold at all. Nothing. Leave them alone as they are. Stop wasting our money on this "public consultation" which you won't even listen to in the end and how about representing the public's wishes like you were elected to do? If you think the protests for the education hike were bad I'm afraid they will be a lot worse if you continue to sell off all OUR forests.
What's more you're only getting 100-250 million pounds, a pitiful amount of money considering how much waste is going on in other areas, illegal wars having money thrown at them and all the while letting the bankers have their billions in bonuses this year.
Utter failure.
I don't think you could have come up with a worse idea is you tried. It's anti-human, anti-animal and anti-flora. You have a responsibility to act on the public's wishes, if you don't then we'll get someone else who can.

cooldad

@agg25 way to influence people. If you sent that letter to me I'd chuck it in the bin. And you forgot to blame Wiggle.

agg25

cooldad - if you chucked it in the bin I would have got a reaction which is what i'm after, the time to pussy foot around is over, it obviously hasn't worked for types like you.

Tartanyak

The reaction you want is to get ignored? Odd.

agg25

Well they'd have to read it to first get outraged by it before chucking it in the bin. By then it's stuck in their memory much more than an uninspired, boring letter the same as all the others. Most pollies don't act unless they think there will be repercussions.

agg25

Anyway, how bout saying what in my letter specifically do you not agree with?? As for the tone, I don't apologize for being angry. I think it's outrageous and apathy has ruined this country enough already.

thekickingmule

agg25 wrote:

I
What's more you're only getting 100-250 million pounds, a pitiful amount of money considering how much waste is going on in other areas, illegal wars having money thrown at them and all the while letting the bankers have their billions in bonuses this year.
Utter failure.

Hmm I think you may find that they are trying to cut back money in other areas, but, surprisingly, they get a lot of complaints from every possible angle saying "We need our money, cut it from somewhere else!"
As for the banks, at the end of the day, we're their bitches. If they want to pay bonuses, we don't have that much say. Yes, we own them, but so do a lot of other people, the governments voice in those meetings is a very quiet one. Plus, if they move their business abroad, we can lose a LOT of tax!

agg25

Well I understand there needs to be cutbacks, but selling the forests should be the last resort. They haven't gone far enough in so many areas such as the banking industry. We're only their bitches because we let them. The argument that they'll disappear offshore if they lose their bonuses is often threatened but in reality it's not going to happen...maybe a few would leave, but more jobs for others to fill their spots.
The Irish govt took their bonuses, no reason UK couldn't as well.

thekickingmule

agg25 wrote:

Well I understand there needs to be cutbacks, but selling the forests should be the last resort.

Seriously!? You honetly believe this!? Do you think that the people in the NHS haven't said the same? The police? The army? Education? Voluntary organisations? Care workers? Councils?
I agree that the forests should be kept, but honestly, what the public thinks of woodland is the least of the Governments concerns! Your letter being at the very bottom of a pile which won't be impressed on anybody's minds.

If banks move off shore, which is a very big threat, and wouldn't involve jobs being left. It would just be that the main HQ would move, so the bank doesn't have to pay taxes. It really isn't that big a deal to most banks where they operate from, as they're already global!

agg25

Actually yes I do. There was a need for cutbacks in some areas, the speed at which they're doing it is being criticized by many though. NHS is bloated, the army and police waste a lot of money, Education shouldn't have been cutback as much as they did and I supported the students who protested then. Do you want my opinion on all the cutbacks?
It appears it is the least of their concerns, which is the whole point of making your personal protest rather than just leaving it up to someone else. Sounds like you've fallen victim to the helplessness mode that so many Brits are guilty of. Throw your hands up and say, oh well there's nothing we can do about it, no one will listen to little old me. Well, with respect, fck that attitude.
Bankers won't mass exodus if they get taxed again this year, they didn't all leave last year did they? It's an empty threat designed to make them richer.

miss notax

We live in the New Forest so this is all a tad worrying to say the least

thekickingmule

agg25 wrote:

Sounds like you've fallen victim to the helplessness mode that so many Brits are guilty of. Throw your hands up and say, oh well there's nothing we can do about it, no one will listen to little old me. Well, with respect, fck that attitude.

I've signed the petition, I'd go along to protests, I have in the past, I will in the future. I haven't given in, I'm pointing out that your letter was a waste of time, poorly constructed and probably done more harm than good. I'm also in the nice position where I have a member of family relying on the NHS, another with carework and councils, and I don't think they are 'bloated'. The Police do waste lots, but that's in paper work, so I don't mind that, I fully support the army and hate seeing their budget cut when they need all the help they can get (Though I am completely against WHY they're at war). Also, I work in the education sector, am facing massive cutbacks and I DISAGREE with the students. The reason they are protesting is they have no understanding of how it all works.

So, no, I haven't given up, and I don't believe there's nothing more we can do about it. I personally hope they do drop the idea of selling forests, but I also hope they drop the idea of selling the Student Debt book, and other things. As Gazlar pointed out, it might not be completely doom and gloom, but we don't know who would be buying them. It could actually be a good thing!
Oh, and it may be an empty threat, but, they could easily turn it into reality. You might be a bit angry about that too!

rubins4

I dont think the threat of banks moving abroad is an empty threat at all. Currently, London is the global financial centre, but with the far east expanding such as it is, it is inevitable that the banks will follow the money. Other investment institutes will follow suit. JP Morgan (I think) were going to build a massive new office building in the city, but that fell through. Seems they are not willing to commit to London at this stage. In a year or so (or maybe even sooner), Shanghai etc may be far more attractive.

Anonymous

agg25 wrote:

cooldad - if you chucked it in the bin I would have got a reaction which is what i'm after, the time to pussy foot around is over, it obviously hasn't worked for types like you.

I actually nearly shat myself from laughing so hard.
Here's a though. Maybe if you hadn;t written that letter, then you'd have samed some wood.
Oh the irony

cooldad

@agg25 - this has been going around the internet for a while, so probably apocryphal, but here's how to write a letter to the govt.

Dear Minister,

I’m in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.

How is it that K-Mart has my address and telephone number, and knows that I bought a Television Set and Golf Clubs from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date? For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand?

My birth date you have in my Medicare information, and it is on all the income tax forms I’ve filed for the past 40 years. It is on my driver’s license, on the last eight passports I’ve ever had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I’ve had to fill out before being allowed off the planes over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that I’ve filled out every 5 years since 1966.

Also, would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother’s name is Audrey, my Father’s name is Jack, and I’d be absolutely f***ing astounded if that ever changed between now and when I drop dead!!!…
SHIT!

I apologize, Mr. Minister. But I’m really pissed off this morning. Between you and me, I’ve had enough of all this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my f***ing address!! What the hell is going on with your mob? Have you got a gang of mindless Neanderthal arse-holes working there!

And another thing, look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I can’t even grow a beard for God’s sakes. I just want to go to New Zealand and see my new granddaughter. (Yes, my son interbred with a Kiwi girl). And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a sheep or a horse, believe me, I sure as hell would not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now, ’cause I have to go to the other end of the city, and get another f***ing copy of my birth certificate, and to part with another $80 for the privilege of accessing MY OWN INFORMATION!

Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot, to assist in the issuance of a new passport on the same day?? Nooooo.. That’d be too f***ing easy and makes far too much sense. You would much prefer to have us running all over the place like chickens with our f***ing heads cut off, and then having to find some high society wanker to confirm that it’s really me in the god-damn photo! You know the photo…the one where we’re not allowed to smile? …You f***ing morons

Signed - An Irate Australian Citizen.

P.S.: Remember what I said above about the picture, and getting someone in high-society to confirm that it’s me? Well, my family has been in this country since before 1850! In 1856, one of my forefathers took up arms with Peter Lalor. (You do remember the Eureka Stockade!!) I have also served in both the CMF and regular Army something over 30 years (I went to Vietnam in 1967), and still have high security clearances.

I’m also a personal friend of the president of the RSL. And Lt General Peter Cosgrove sends me a Christmas card each year.

However, your rules require that I have to get someone “important” to verify who I am; You know… someone like my doctor; WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN F***ING PAKISTAN!!!…A country where they either assassinate or hang their ex-Prime Ministers, and are suspended from the Commonwealth for not having the “right sort of government.”

You are all f***ing idiots.

jonnyc2420

thats a good one Cooldad -

however the online consultation / survey re forestry selloff is far from cool -my feeling is that theyve made it as complicated as it could possibly be - probably putting off the vast majority in the hope that things go thier way.....

total pants :x

agg25

Sent it via email so no wood ;-)
Well, you guys can pander to the scare campaigns of the banks (btw JP Morgan were the main manipulators of the crash so I don't feel sorry not to have them here) but some of us have had enough. Banks aren't going to relocate because they're taxed a bit more, they still turn a tidy profit and if they leave someone else will take their place...anyway the govt owns a lot of them now so has more say in how they're run.
I doubt an angry email is going to cause harm.
The army can be significantly cut back without major detriment to the nation as a whole. What's the best thing they've done recently?? No, didn't think so.
I've signed petitions, sent emails, spread the word, and donated some of my money for this cause and will attend protests.
You keep doing whatever, talk amongst yourselves, I'm off to the Snowdonian forests for the weekend to enjoy them while I can.

agg25

Sorry Cooldad, too long, didn't read it. Threw it in the bin.

cooldad

agg25 wrote:

Sorry Cooldad, too long, didn't read it. Threw it in the bin.

Which just proves you have the sense of humour of a plank.