Minister calls probe into Mortimer Forest deal

Environment minister Therese Coffey told the Commons she was unhappy with the relationship between the Forestry Commission and Forest Holidays, which wants to build 68 holiday cabins at Mortimer Forest, near Ludlow.

The proposals have sparked objections from more than 130,000 people who have signed petitions against the scheme.

Miss Coffey said Colin Day, a senior official at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, had been appointed to investigate the deal which had been struck between the Forestry Commission and the company.

The agreement has seen the Forestry Commission grant Forest Holidays 125-year leases on a number of publicly owned sites across the country, which the company has used to develop holiday parks. A similar deal is proposed for Mortimer Forest.

The campaign group Save Mortimer Forest, which was set up to oppose the development, said granting such a long lease was akin to selling off the site.

The Forestry Commission has a 13.6 per cent stake in Forest Holidays, which is a private business.

In Parliament yesterday, Mr Dunne asked Miss Coffey if she was satisfied with the arrangements between the company and the Forestry Commission, which is a public body.

Mr Dunne praised the work of Save Mortimer Forest, saying it was the dogged investigations by the group which had brought the concerns out into the open.

"There are concerns about these arrangements in that once planning permission is granted, the Forestry Commission has very little control over these developments.

"These 125-year leases are granted by the Forestry Commission at no cost, and then the company can effectively do what it likes with the land, subject to planning permission.

"The Forestry Commission receives a rental income, but it doesn't pay for the sites. This seems a bit of an un-commercial way to operate."

Robert Owen, of the Save Mortimer Forest campaign group, welcomed the news.

"We do not yet know the terms of reference of the inquiry, we're hoping to learn in the next few days," he said.

"It's very good news as far as we're concerned, we have been expressing our concerns to the Government for some time not only about the proposed development in Mortimer Forest but about the whole relationship between the Forestry Commission and Forest Holidays."

"We object to the fact that the Forestry Commission has granted Forest Holidays an exclusive right, effectively in perpetuity, to exploit the public forest estate to put an unlimited number of these developments in place."

Mr Owen said he was concerned there did not appear to have been a tendering process, and said the deal appeared to have been done without approval from a number of bodies one would normally expect it to have been referred to.

He said the Forestry Commission had been very actively supporting planning applications which had been made by Forest Holidays in different locations across the country.

"We think that is inappropriate," he said.

The Forestry Commission, DEFRA and Forest Homes have been asked to comment.