Forests care for us. Together we care for forests. For over 100 years, we have been growing, shaping and caring for over 1,500 of our nation’s forests for the benefit and enjoyment of all, for this generation and the next.
So says Paddy Harrop in a rare statement from Forest England on the proposed holiday village at Farley Moor, it would seem that all the fuss about Matlock Forest and the plans to build 75 lodges, ancillary buildings and an enormous car park is unnecessary. This quango has our best interests at heart, apparently. Our campaign is seemingly mis-judged:
We are aware of some recent incorrect information being shared on these proposals. We understand the forest means different things to everyone and it’s understandable that new proposals can cause people to worry.
If only we had read the proposals, we would not be objecting. If reading these Forestry England words you feel your head being patted and a sense of being talked down to, it is probably because Mr Harrop and Forestry England are talking down to us. His statement goes on to make further misleading statements about the development. They are rattled and fearful our campaign may win.
Forest England claim again that the lodges will impact only 1% of the forest. This, of course, is highly misleading as it ignores the access roads, service buildings and the visual disturbance. It also ignores that visitors will want their privacy and dog walkers, ramblers and bird-watchers will want their seclusion. The development area is nearer 1/3 of the area of the forest and to claim otherwise is just misleading.
The proposal includes a small public car park housing 16 spaces. Those using the Forest Holidays site will have allocated parking next to their cabins.
This is nonsense of course, suggesting that the car park spaces is only 16. If each lodge has space for two cars, that’s 150 spaces and there will be parking around the service buildings too. Much more like the 249 figure previously announced.
These (trails) will be made using permeable materials which is the same as existing Forestry England tracks and pathways in the nation’s forests.
Farley Moor is a very wet site, with ponds, peatlands and ditches. No-one from the developers has yet explained how they have considered the hydrological impacts of their plans. The total impact of the lodges, trails, ancillary buildings and services however permeable will alter the hydrology. How?
The proposals will deliver a ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ and the woodland and habitat in a third of the forest will be managed by our long-term partner and B Corp certified organisation, Forest Holidays in accordance with Habitat Enhancement and Woodland Enhancement Management Plans.
This is not how Biodiversity Net Gain works. The policy was introduced so that developers could ‘bank’ the biodiversity harm done, usually in quite low value places, and then spend the money on biodiversity enhancements elsewhere giving a ‘net gain’. It was never intended to allow developers to harm high biodiversity areas, indeed land that Forestry England as a public body is required to manage for nature. Farley Moor and the adjacent Matlock Moor are Local Wildlife Sites in the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust oppose this development.
Sustainable tourism which benefits the forest and the local economy – creating 57 new full time equivalent jobs (FTE), plus 120 FTE jobs during the creation of the cabins.
Forestry England base this statement wholly on the claims by Forest Holidays. They ignore the representations made by local tourism operator Darwin Forest who fear up to 50% of the stays at Farley Moor will be displaced from their existing operation 1/2 a mile away. Moreover, they ignore their own management plan which says that in developing tourism facilities they will work with local business and communities. Forestry England don’t give a fig about what local communities and business think.
The Forestry England statement says nothing about traffic, hydrology, disturbance, dark skies, impacts on other local business or impacts on the important wildlife found at Farley Moor.
Finally, throughout this statement, Forestry England refer to their plans for Matlock Forest. The only plan that I know about runs out in about two months, hardly long term. Matlock Forest has a plan 2014-24, but there has been no evaluation of this plan, no consultation on its successor and no sign of a new and revised plan for the future. Forestry England have been caught napping here. There is no plan, we’ve not been asked about it and when Forestry England talk of the plan they refer solely to their exclusive plans with Forest Holidays. You are not welcome!
Helpfully, the Forestry England article does include an e-Mail address that you can send your views to. It would be a shame if people didn’t take up the opportunity of telling Forestry England what they think of their plans to harm this special place.
Email: FuturePlans.MatlockMoor@forestryengland.uk
Jim Dixon
26 October 2024
