The whole project is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” As a result of the development, he says: “Wildlife habitat on publicly owned land will be destroyed in favour of a busy private holiday park. To him, the chalet development will destroy the tranquillity of what is, in this case, not even a particularly large forest.
For a public body explicitly to promise to conceal evidence of its dereliction of duty is amazing.Ī spokesman for the Mortimer campaigners, Colin Richards, is a passionate defender of forest wildness. It would ensure “that the media and the public are not aware of new development site selection”. Doubtless because of the privatisation row, the 2012 deal stipulated that the commission commit itself to secrecy. The Mortimer Forest plan has been with Hereford council for three years, only seeing the light of day in February. It is small wonder this whole saga has been shrouded in secrecy. This means that a body that exists to maintain Britain’s forests is party not just to their privatisation but to their complete exploitation – and for as long as 125 years. With 14%, it has more than duty – it has a clear incentive. Should anyone object, such as an uppity planner, the Forestry Commission has “a duty to help bypass regulations”. The agreement also promises that, provided the sites are not in a nature reserve or protected area, they cannot be opposed. Indeed the company and the commission make planning applications jointly, as if they were one and the same. There will be no competitors, no rival bidders and no limit to its growth. The government has granted a private company exclusive access to exploit a public land bank. The Forest Holidays deal, in effect with the government, is extraordinary. That is equity-speak for “we struck a goldmine”.
The reason was soon clear when Forest Holidays’ chief executive, Bruce McKendrick, justified the high price on the grounds that “the commission has a million hectares of forest, so we’ve got plenty to keep us going for many years to come”. This valued the company at an extraordinary £262m. So, what happened last December? A company called Phoenix Equity acquired 42% of Forest Holidays for £110m. As the company said recently, it is as yet developing only an “ infinitesimal” share of the commission’s estate. The country may have less woodland per acre than anywhere in Europe, but it can surely handle a few private estates of “hot tubs and fluffy towels”. This might all seem small beer, another example of the oleaginous workings of “parastatal” Britain.
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