Forestry (England)

Neil Parish Excerpts
Thursday 17th February 2011

(13 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Caroline Spelman Portrait Mrs Spelman
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I thought that I made it perfectly clear, and said quite straightforwardly to the House, that in this case we got it wrong; we listened, and we are going to take a fresh approach.

Neil Parish Portrait Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
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I very much welcome the Secretary of State’s response, because I think we can now be very positive about this, and think about how we manage the forests, how the Forestry Commission can help the smaller forests and how we can get greater public access and biodiversity in them.

Caroline Spelman Portrait Mrs Spelman
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I thank my hon. Friend for that observation. It is encouraging that the Forestry Commission agrees that reform is needed, and that we together should have the ambition to do better for our forests and woodlands and to enhance and protect their biodiversity.