Hands Off Hartlebury Common

#5: -

Thank you for your considered response, you are quite correct, hartlebury common is too isolated to have any real benefit to the mass of countryside it resides in. The supposed benefit is outweighed by the loss of this enviroment

#4: -

This is the systematic butchery of OUR shared space. Thank you for commenting. Steve

#2: -

So they should, the common has maintained itself very well without interference. Well done

#8: -

I could not have not have put it better myself, thank you, this is the most important space we have locally, it is a paradise for ALL sorts of insects, heath and woodland.

#1: -

Currentley the ratio in terms of land area is 90% heath and scrub 10% trees. Not bad considering there has been no management of the common for 100 yrs. The idea that there was some golden age when there was even more heath and scrub is entirley a deliberate falsification, fabrication of history to suit there own ends.

#11: -

Thank you. Here we have one of the most succesfully diverse places open to any person. It satisfies the needs of so many different people. This is OUR space, hands off I say. Please tell as many people as you can about this campaign. Thank you

As a person that regularly walks with my girlfriend around the common i have to say that we are very upset by the news of the proposed changes.

#15: -

I cannot emphasise too much that they are attempting to restore the common to some earlier, fantasy appearence. Natural England say that due diligence has been excercised and that the public have been consulted about all the changes to Hartlebury Common. Did YOU know about these changes? No of course not, we are all to stupid apparentley to understand there position and so they keep there schemes very, quiet. Instead, we have pathetic signage, simplistic, propagandist litereature and lies.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, TELL AS MANY PEOPLE ABOUT THIS PETITION BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

#3: -

Diverse visitors enjoy the common for diverse reasons but it is the simple joy of the natural, nature built enviroment which is a wonder to all. I sympathise with you, tell as many people as you can about this site and petition.

Steve

This common is one of the few places locally where us non landowners can walk unrestricted and enjoy 'natural' countryside. I say 'natural' because I subscribe to the view that the common is evolving in a natural way and should be left to evolve without interference. Surely the purpose of an area such as the common is to encourage the public to engage with it? This is done by feet on the ground. Will I be walking my dog on a lead through cattle with my 6 yr old son? No! I am very aware of the dangers of dogs in the vicinity of cattle. So we will be effectively banned from this common. No longer will my son be able to engage in the wildlife, vegetation and fauna which is so abundant on the common. Another example of those elected to protect out interests failing to look after the interests of the electorate.

#19: -

Thank you so much for leaving your comment. It is heartning because I am working hard to reverse what I am constntly told is the irreversible. This cannot be allowed to happen, for the sake of our children, for the sake of our friends and the wider community.

Please, please, please tell everybody you can about this impending disaster. This place is the most valuble space open to the common person, locally and abroad, lets have a cessation of this butchery now. Support me  and I promise I will do all I can to stop this.

steve McCarron

#16: -

Tell all the people you know, support me, I will do the best I can.

Best wishes

Steve

#23: -

The most consistent aspect of what they do is subterfuge and lies. The common has always looked more or less as it does now. It has not been managed before in the way that they propose; manage is a derogotary term as no one has intentionally subjected the place to the imposition that it now is threatened with.

Please pass on these facts to whoever you can, thank you for commenting, these actions have to stop as this is the most wonderful space that we have locally. It will be an artificial landscape with NO ecological benefit.

Thanks, Steve.

#24: steve mccarron - Re: sanity in our open spaces

Steve,

I wish you well in fighting this environmental vandalism.

Here in Surrey and neighbouring Hampshire & West Sussex, thousands of acres of woodland (most of it naturally regenerating) have been decimated since 1998 (when "SPAs" were first designated).

In addition to massive loss of wildlife caused by the deforestation (there is not much left alive after the bulldozers beloved by organisations such as the National Trust, Surrey Wildlife Trust and the MOD go in, and which is often followed by soaking the land with glyphosate and asulox herbicides); many of the areas also now burn every time there is a dry spell (which is more and more often here).

The Forestry Commission recently published stats on woodland loss stating that (at least) around 10,000 acres of woodland have been destroyed in the pursuit of "open habitats" since 1997. However this will not be classed as permanent loss until 10 years of deforestation have been confirmed.

In most cases there were no consultations, and such consultations that have taken place have been a sham, either by circulating publicity to as few people as possible or by the ignoring of the responses of local people, so I fear your resistance is destined to fail.

Good luck anyway.

Surrey resident.