Letters to the Editor

We are again confronted with a silent revolution comparable to the Lowland Clearances of 1760-1830. Our predecessors were forcibly extirpated from the houses and land they had cultivated over countless generations.

Under the watchful eye of the Scottish Government, we yet again see our farmers driven off the land by a London based Investment Trust (recently taken over by a US based private equity firm). History repeating the errors of judgement of the past. In the 1970s, Merseyside born playwright John McGrath created a play entitled “The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil.” If this were to be updated the title would now include the Sitka Spruce.

Many of us attended the Scottish Woodlands Consultation and our comments were received with disinterest as at the previous meeting. Attempting to discuss the planting on Warbla with Louise Wildgoose, she stated she loved to see hills completely covered in spruce. When I commented that you cannot eat trees and suggested a better crop was sheep her reply was “she did not eat meat.” This was followed by her colleague who commented that “he was a vegan.” I continued to engage in conversation regarding the proposed planting on Warbla when another member of the team intervened stating “they own the land and can do what they want with it”. At that stage I decided there was no point in continuing. How can we register our disapproval when letters to the relevant SNP ministers are merely passed to Scottish Forestry to respond? This is comparable to asking UK Coal to adjudicate on the proposed coal mine in West Cumbria. 

Farming land has been taken out of use for a prolonged period to fabricate the assessment that it is not good productive land. These farms previously supported families and contributed to our food production. We experienced the results of forestry in Eskdalemuir in the 1960s (the largest man-made forest in Europe at the time) with the result in closure of schools, shops and businesses in the area and the resultant loss of families to our communities. 

The Scottish Government’s attempt to broaden land ownership in Scotland has failed and merely opened the door to more distant owners and international investment. We are informed that a financial blackhole exists in our economy and funds are being cut with no money available for Winter Fuel payments, but adequate funding exists to support forestry. Forestry companies now find it easier to plant in Scotland thanks in part to the MacKinnon report, unlike Wales where significant local resistance exists. 

We all enjoy the many local walks and don’t want to be surrounded by deer fences. All the people I have spoken to object to planting trees on Warbla.

The only way to modify the proposal is for enough people to object now before it is accepted by Scottish Forestry. If you oppose it, please fill in a feed-back form and make your voice heard.

Archie Hyslop, Langholm