Help Please??

Stop the development of 75 holiday homes in our local woods. Sign the petition against the planning here.

http://www.activism.com/en_GB/petition/save-houghton-forest/59062

As many of you riders will know the Forestry Commission do some great work. They have partnered with MTB organisations up and down the country to create a permissive network of trails that work with the natural environment. They have been promoting engagement with local woodland and creating sculpture trails for families and kids are learning more about the real world around having fun in natural surroundings. So far so good.

However, more recently the direction seems to have moved towards a model where they are seeking greater monetisation from their (our) resources as well as preservation and education so I think it is worth remembering that their original remit of the organisation is forest management and preservation.

To bear witness to this I think there will be a good number of you who have visited the woods recently to see them felling trees only to erect sky wires for GoApe, these generally start small but soon grow as recent visitors to Grizedale or the New forest will know.

For me, another even more worrying foray is the venture in to Forest Holiday villages.

The Forestry Commission now own a 20% stake in a firm that develops holiday cottages in the forest which is backed by Lloyds bank. So far there are 7 of these developments. See their website here: http://www.forestholidays.co.uk/

How many more of these are they planning to build in total?

I live in the South East and ride trails, road, XC, bike parks and my kids will ride whatever I let them too. There is a lovely small local woodland nestled in the South Downs near Amberley & Arundel called Houghton Forest a.k.a. Whiteways which we ride together. The South Downs, despite being a national park does not have a great deal of woodland so we would like to protect what we have. Sure we have the South Downs Way a 100 mile bridleway with 10,000 feet of climbing but man can not live on XC alone!

If the Forestry Commission get their way, they will build 75 holiday homes in this small forest spread across approximately 50% of the wooded area. There will obviously have to be extensive building work to create these properties, you know that it will put a stop to any bivvying type activities and they will of course have to create lovely car friendly trails and all weather tracks through our single track woods.

Please help stop this spread and sign this petition.

http://www.activism.com/en_GB/petition/save-houghton-forest/59062

Save our singletrack & stop the centreparcification of our forest – please!

For more background, here is a local newspaper article: http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/local/arundel-holiday-homes-will-destroy-forest-1-6022399

Thanks.

Ade

I saw the notices in the forest on the way home the other day. I’ve signed the petition and also posted a link on Facebook and Twitter.

Signed, good luck! I do hope you succeed, this country is built up enough as it is.

Thanks for putting this up, holiday booked. Nice one.

Cheers guys. Spread the word.

Enjoy your holiday abbot, don’t think you’ll get much peace though; noisy, smelly bikers are everywhere!

Could you not get involved with the company building and ask for a purpose built red and black trail to be created as part of the ‘compensation package’ to the locals’.

Good idea but the woods are not that big darrenspink.

I think there is bound to be a reduction in singletrack at least and if they build holiday homes through it and worst case they might get rid of all of them. 🙁

Some people have put in some good work there (I can’t claim credit) but there is a good range of flowing blue style singletrack with a few decent berms, drops and jumps all just joined together with firetrack.