I have been muttering on about this for a few weeks now and no one seemed to be paying me much attention. However after watching Countryfile the other evening where the pitfalls of this particular area of govenment policy were clarified in a report entitled Craven Investigates, fronted by John Craven himself, I am upping the auntie. I have been inspired to take matters further and to actively campaign to oppose this policy. Judging by Mr Craven's report it turns out I am not alone and my consternation, which was soon whipped up into a tumult of anger by the fiery rhetoric of Mr Craven, is shared by a good fair few. I have decided that this is to be my particular redoubt of opposition and I am going to make a stand. It's the last straw. Even though in the great scheme of things it may appear to be a relatively small cut back and with all the assurances of leases and the rather specious notion of community groups and charities running their local woods or soft soaping as I call it, a fairly inconsequential one. I don't see it like this.
Like many of these smaller current cuts, the closing of libraries, the cuts in air sea rescue flights, the coastgaurd service and here in Devon the latest cuts in funding to Women's Aid refuges it can be seen as being rather snidey and asocial. A policy more than likely dreamt up by some hideously zealous myopic cave dwelling monetarist mandarin.
Of course the Government members themselves are not going to be gravely put out by such proposals as obviously they come the classes that would generally benefit from such a sell off. If they aren't from the aristocracy or landed gentry themselves then they are more than likely closely related to 'em and would have no problem guaranteeing their own access to the countryside as they own great bleddy swathes of it or have chums that do.
As of now I shall no longer be doffing my cap or tugging my forelock. To the woods!
Should you be a fellow traveler you'll find all you need to know in these places.
http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigning/save-ancient-forests/Pages/fc-disposals-act-now.aspx?WT.mc_id=fc
http://www.theforester.co.uk/news.cfm?id=37724
Also, rather ironically the United Nations have declared this year 2011 to be the year of the forest!
http://www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011/index.shtml
What Countryfile failed to point out and which serves as as a corollary to this situation is that with all the cuts in local government public rights of way stand to be further compromised by a council's lack of funds to be able to ensure the up keep of footpaths and the compliance of landowners to the legal guarantees of public access. In recent years Devon County Council has keenly implemented a policy of redefining footpaths, legally persuing landowners who fail to recognise or impede public rights of way and they have spent a great deal of time and money reinstigating and improving the paths. I fear that all these good works will be undone in the near future as whily landowners will seize the chance to put up fences on disputed land, surreptitiously disguise signage and disregard the right to roam.
The other afternoon me and the old boy walked across the fields from Asford to Bradiford in order to have a couple of pints in the Windsor. A few years ago you would not have been able to do this without coming across a bog, chaotic fencing or having to walk along the road. Now we were rather amazed to see that the council have put duckboards across the boggy bits, put up new stiles and someone has taken down the fencing that last time I went up there surrounded that most famous Barum landmarks Triumphal Arch. Now you can walk over the top of the hill, through the arch and along the path to Bradiford no problem. This has opened up a whole new aspect to the area and puts another drinking establishment at our disposal so we are no longer stuck with the Tarka Inn or the trek over to the Ring 'o Bells, I hate to say it but, mark my words, in the near future such usage of an ancient byway may not be as enjoyable or as practicable to negotiate.
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