http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthn ... treat.html
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| Quote: Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, said she wanted to look again at plans to sell off 15 per cent of the commission’s land. The planned sale was announced last year in the Treasury’s Spending review. The sale, over four years, was due to raise £100 million for the Government. A separate plan to lease much of the remaining 85 per cent of commission land, has triggered public protests and criticism from MPs including some Lib Dems and Conservatives. Mrs Spelman insisted that the wider leasing plan – currently subject to consultation – is not affected by the announcement on the sale. She also told MPs that the 15 per cent sale will still go ahead in due course, but said the move would be delayed while ministers reviewed the way land will be selected for sale. | |
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To be honest this scheme would have been a disaster in so many ways. I do not know enough about the environmental impacts, but the tax implications would have meant that the Treasury would have had to forego billions of tax revenue from the super rich over the decades as a result of them being able to use the tax loophole of owning a forest. Madness.
