Ministers are hugely overestimating the financial windfall that could be achieved by selling England’s public-owned commercial forests, the timber industry has warned.
Caroline Spelman, environment secretary, has predicted that up to £350m will be raised selling off the commercial forestry to the private sector.
But Stuart Goodall, chief executive of the Confederation of Forest Industries, said that land agents had made their own estimates, with in southern England the government only set to get 30 to 40% of the value. On Friday the environment secretary appeared to pave the way for the sell-off by putting on hold a programme to sell 15% of the Forestry Commission estate.
Financial Times 12/02/11 page 6, Daily Telegraph 12/02/11 page 4, The Times Business 12/02/11 page 15, The Guardian 12/02/11 page 23
