Hundreds fear for Cannock Chase future

More than 300 people have joined a Facebook group expressing concern over the future of Cannock Chase.

At the time of going to press, 301 people had signed up to "What future for Cannock Chase Forest?" which discusses The Forestry Commission facing "substantial reform" by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government.

Parts of Cannock Forest, including some mountain bike trails could be sold off, which has also led to the creation of a new website which invites visitors to download letters to send in support of the land to Cannock MP Aidan Burley and Caroline Spellman, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Creator of the website and the Facebook group founder Mark Davis, who also has a Twitter page dedicated to the cause, said: "When the Government announced a plan for substantial reform of the Forestry Commission early in October a number of people started to worry about what it could mean for our woodland."

Mr Davis, from Hednesford, said he drives through Cannock Chase every day on his way to work in Stoke-on-Trent.

He said: "I'm not trying to put up scare stories, we just want the Government to know how important our forest is to us and that we'd like to keep things pretty much as they are rather than see big changes due to a restructure of the Forestry Commission or sale of the woods to someone else."

Environment minister Jim Paice said the Government is considering selling off some woodlands. In an open letter to MPs he said that the Public Bodies bill would allow the coalition to deliver a "modernisation of the forestry legislation".

Areas popular with mountain bikers such as the trails from the Birches Valley Visitor Centre, near Rugeley, are being considered for sale.

Mr Paice said that they will carry out a public consultation and invite views from a range of potential private and civil society partners.

Forestry Commission spokesman Stuart Burgess said that the Government was giving a commitment to maintaining public access to any woodland that was sold off.

The Public Bodies Bill, published on October 29, contains a specific section on forestry including a new approach to ownership and management, with a reducing role for the state.

An online petition by 38 Degrees, entitled Save Our Forests - Don't Sell Them Off To The Highest Bidder, has gathered 38,000 signatures opposing the sell-off.

The Woodland Trust said that it supports private ownership of land but has expressed concerns over the future of ancient woodland sites.

The Forestry Commission started planting trees on parts of the Chase in the 1920s.