IT is clear from the many letters we have received that there is widespread opposition to the Government’s plans to privatise England’s forests.

The Government says privatisation will raise £74.5m over the next five years – small beer in terms of a £170bn national debt.

In the longer term, it may even end up costing us money because the Government has promised to subsidise the forests to help their new owners manage them properly.

Similar plans have already been rejected in Wales and Scotland. In an ironic twist, the campaign to resist privatisation of Scottish forests was led by Danny Alexander, who is now the Chief Secretary of the Treasury.

Although some rights of access will be safeguarded through legislation, there will be no guarantee of continued provision for horse riders, cyclists or dog walkers.

Let us be clear: forests like Hamsterley, in County Durham, and Danby, in North Yorkshire, are national treasures. They do not belong to the Government, they belong to the people. Once they are gone, they will be lost forever. A 150- year lease is a smoke-screen designed to make us all feel better about selling off the family silver.

This ill-thought-out policy seems to have achieved the impossible, uniting left and right, townies and country dwellers, young and old, in opposition to the Government. Opposition is growing by the day and The Northern Echo intends to be a powerful voice for saving our woodlands.