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The World According to Jaggy - February 08, 2009 Forestry Sale Threat - The Future of Rallying in Doubt - Again! As the year 2009 breaks over our sainted country, the future of forest rallying faces a renewed threat, this time from our own elected Government The SNP, god bless their tartan socks, are threatening to sell off or lease parts of the Forestry Commission to private enterprise. According to them this will generate income for the Government, protect jobs in the industry and encourage more investment in the future. I was alerted to these plans by Sir Ken Wood BMC, GWC (and holder of 3 national rally titles) of the parish of Insch. Initially we both thought the idea had merit, but the more we looked into it, the more we both started to disagree with the whole idea. In preparation for a meeting with his local MSP, I sent Ken some information, but this affects all of us. If you think it's a good idea, then bury your head in your engine bay and check those valve tolerances - if you don't think it's a good idea, then get inside the hoose, fire up your internet connection, and send missives to your MPs and MSPs. The Proposal The Scottish Government is considering plans to lease 25 per cent of the national forest estate to logging companies for up to 75 years. The scheme is intended to raise £200 million to tackle pollution that is causing climate change. Current State of Land Ownership At the present time, the Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) owns 1,640,000 acres of land which makes it Scotland's biggest landowner. About 1.1 million acres of this land is wooded, which means it owns 36 per cent of Scotland's forests. The next biggest forested land owner is the Buccleuch Group with 270,000 acres - the Duke of Buccleuch is the Chairman of South of Scotland Car Club so he's on our side! Then comes the National Trust for Scotland with 192,000 acres and the Scottish Government itself with 174,000 acres. Much of the rest is owned by private families and investment trusts, but the RSPB has nearly 125,000 acres (we have no chance there) and a Malaysian businessman owns 71,000 acres. My biggest fear is that the national British Government, let alone our low-mileage 'still running in' Scottish national government, does not have a good record on selling off private industries and national assets. We get a knock down price and those who buy them make millions. And given the current economic state of affairs I don't see that changing. Additional Fears At least with the FC there is only one body to deal with, if the Government sells off land then how many different landowners would have to be dealt with by amateur clubs to gain access to the same ground? And how many of these new landowners would employ the same number of people and maintain the roads to the same standard? If it was profit they were after, rather than service, then it is unlikely they would employ the same numbers and maintain the same standards. Having said that I'm sure some of them would be good employers and owners, but which ones, and would these forests still be accessible? No, even if the Scottish Government was able to negotiate and 'guarantee' public access rights and seek assurances about forestry worker employment I'm pretty sure that just a few months down the line, the new owners would be looking at cutting costs and raising profitability. I reckon they would want to make a profit out of any 'extra-curricular activities' on their ground and while they couldn't charge access fees for the public on foot, they could install 'paying' car parks and charge more for mountain cycle clubs, motor cyclists and rallyists to the extent that they would price us out of the woods. Ands here's another thought. Just suppose a certain organisation wanted to keep rallyists out of the woods. Take Clashindarroch for instance. They wouldn't need to buy the whole thing, just buy a few acres at the road side entrances and then deny access across 'their' land thereby putting the rest of the forest out of action. Conclusion I reckon, 'better the devil you know than the devil you don't' in this case. The FC may not be perfect but at least we can work with them. The employees themselves don't want the forests to be sold off because they reckon many would lose their jobs because the forests wouldn't be managed to the same standard. And if local areas lose a rally then they will lose the income that will generate for the local economy with bed nights for competitors, officials, families and followers. Not just buying accommodation, but petrol and diesel, sandwiches and souvenirs. A rally can generate tens of thousands for a local economy. Even a one day national rally will generate a minimum of £40,000 to £60,000 in one night's accommodation only, not to mention what spectators will spend. So that's my view. What do you think? And what are you going to do about it? * * * * * |