Huge sell-off of Britain's forests.

[renewablejohn]

With the demand for Biofuel there will be huge demand for this woodland. Hopefully it will be at reasonable prices so that I can be at the front of the queue.

[jay053]

With the demand for Biofuel there will be huge demand for this woodland. Hopefully it will be at reasonable prices so that I can be at the front of the queue.

 

Standing next to me

[firewood]

The plantations of forest were indeed planted in order that we would be self-sufficient following numerous wars. Nowadays warships arent built of timber, we hardly need masses of timber for pit-props, the large number of trenches in the 1st World War consumed vast quantities and so on. We are no longer self-sufficient in any commodity let alone timber, we cant feed or heat ourselves. Our electricity gas water and food comes from abroad, and timber is imported from the Baltic States far cheaper than we can produce it, even with a subsidised dinosaur such as the FC. The biggest asset of woodlands and forest these days is probably the recreational market, and this can be run, probably even at a profit, by private concerns.

It will help create a fairer market, where market forces dictate, rather than the Fat Cat FC getting govt hand-outs (our money) and having a distinctive unfair advantage over the private sector.

 

 

I totally agree that an injection of free market competition is a good thing.

 

Walk into your nearest FC office and count the no of staff working there. compared to a private sector operator they are very overmanned (as is most of the public sector IMHO)

 

However there is only one thing worse than a public monopoly and that is a private one.

 

most public utility assets that have been sold off in the last 30 years have ended up in private monopolies or oligopolies in very short order (gas, electricity, rail, water).

 

the end result is that mega corp plc ends up owning the lot by greasing the politicians, competition disappears and small businesses get shafted.

 

So unless the FC is going start selling it's estate in say 10 to 500 hectare lots to the likes of the members of this forum to encourage competition, conservation and good management then forget it. we would be better of with the status quo.

[Quickthorn]

So unless the FC is going start selling it's estate in say 10 to 500 hectare lots to the likes of the members of this forum to encourage competition, conservation and good management then forget it. we would be better of with the status quo.

 

yes.

 

I'm not sure how they managed the last sell off, but from the odd report that I read here and there, a fair amount went to people with the right connections for not very much money. I'd love to know what the true picture was.

 

If they're going to sell it off, it should be at true market value, not knocked down for the benefit of the network of cronies that seem to run a lot of the countryside. Market value last time I looked was pretty high compared to the income you'd likely make on such a wood (apart from shooting, perhaps), so I'd imagine a lot of it would go to speculators or firms who buy woodlands to subdivide and sell off at much higher prices/ac than what they payed.

[log_hauler]

Government owned national parks and woodlands thats what they should become, and not playgrounds for the rich, or a get rich quick venture for timber men...

 

Well said- just what I need, a bloody Centre Parc on my doorstep!

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

The FC used to be a well run organisation but has been going downhill a long time although some decent folks still working hard there. Small woods have often been sold off to local landowners when considered unworkable with huge machines.

 

There should be a viable and sustainable system of planting/thinning allowed to continue and not selling off the woods to folks like the Woodland/National Trust that seem to rely on carbon trading and large grants before doing work. (Large overheads even as Charities)

 

Perhaps all the people on the forum should look at a mass purchase. In Norway/Sweden/Finland the people that own the woods also do the work.

[John Barleycorn]

George Osborne with a chainsaw & no PPE just about sums it up.

 

This bloke is a walking disaster

[woodlander]

Spot on Traditional logger regardless of what we all think the temptation is for the FC forests to be sold in large blocks to the big players ,is it not time we all got together to form syndicates to have enough cash to compete ,are they really going to sell 20 hectares here and there doubtfull

[renewablejohn]

Spot on Traditional logger regardless of what we all think the temptation is for the FC forests to be sold in large blocks to the big players ,is it not time we all got together to form syndicates to have enough cash to compete ,are they really going to sell 20 hectares here and there doubtfull

 

With Biofuel you need a lot more than 20 hectares. The smallest CHP plant I would install to be economically viable requires 5000 tonnes of biomass per annum which would require 300 hectares of forest for harvest on a sustainable basis.