Forestry (England)

Debate between Caroline Spelman and Roger Gale

Thursday 17th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

As I have said, I have no difficulty in life in being frank when I have got something wrong; I have come to the House and said as much. As regards the many people up and down the country whose love for their forests is quite apparent from the responses I received, I would like to reassure them that it was never the Government’s intention to sell off the forests to the highest bidder—[Interruption.] That was never in our minds.

[Mr Roger Gale (North Thanet) (Con)]

The statutory protection of right of access for walkers and riders, the statutory protection of the environment and the national habitat and the long-term securing of our natural woodlands were all contained in my right hon. Friend’s proposals, but none of them was put forward either by Her Majesty’s Opposition or—dare one say it?—by the push-button campaigners. Those protections need to be hung on to. My right hon. Friend was not wrong; she was right. Will she make certain that this Government protect our forests for the future, as the Opposition, when they were in government, never did?

[Mrs Spelman]

Of course, I am happy to give that undertaking. It is important to remember that a number of statutory protections—governing access, rights of way, wildlife protection, planning, the care of our woodlands and felling—are already in place. In addition to all that, we Ministers have made it clear on a number of occasions that we want to increase protection for access and other public benefits, because it is apparent from the sales made by the previous Administration that parts of that are not adequate.