Misguided

I don't know Max Coborn that well, only having ever met him twice. 
From his past media articles he always came over as level headed, unbiased and respectful and I always held a lot of respect for him, for this. 
However, the recent article in a local newspaper left me shocked to think that it had actually come from the pen of the Mayor of Cinderford.
Yes newspapers can and usually do edit and misquote, but I have the feeling that Mr. Coborn would not have been misquoted due to his status in the area and probably having read over the letter before it went to print, if it had been edited.

Here is the link to Mr. Coborn's letter...

CLICK HERE - Also below...

If anyone is misguided Mr. Coborn it is sadly you as only this week, globally released statistics have shown that our "global" wildlife species have plummeted by 50% in the last 40 years.
CLICK HERE

What does this tell us? 
As you obviously (as well as everyone else involved with and backing the NQ) can't grasp this fact, then I shall explain for you.

It has taken just 40 years for billions of trillions of animals to perish at the hands of humans due to deforestation, encroachment, poisoning, hunting and pollution.
Northern may seem like a pin prick in comparison to the world, even the UK, but if we keep chipping away at our forest we will be no better than the people who are destroying the rain forests of the world and polluting our rivers, seas and oceans.

Northern is home to the following.

Great crested newt
Smooth/palmate newt
Grass snake
Adder
Slow-worm
Common lizard
Bats - Including rare and EU protected species
Hawfinch - Including other rare birds
Many rare insects including rare butterflies

Imagine if we took this stance with every area in the Forest of Dean and also imagine if the proposed development was passed without objection?
We love our forest and like the HOOF campaign, we will stand up for it as if we don't we will have no forest left.
Yes the area requires help and regeneration, but to be blinded by money and to destroy an area, which should actually be a nature reserve is foolish.
We need to protect areas like Northern and work to maintain them, not flatten them as by far, this is one of the most bio-diverse areas in the entire Forest of Dean for habitats and wildlife.


Please see below if you can't view the link above.

I have decided to write this letter to do with the Northern Quarter.

I have never heard so much misinformation about a project which would bring a brand new college to the Forest of Dean, not just Cinderford.

Without it being built there will be no college in the Forest at all and our youth will have to travel to Gloucester. That is a fact.

We need the housing, we need the jobs and this development will bring all this for people in the Forest instead of having to travel outside and you know what that means, just look at the A40 and A48 roads in the morning.

We need the planned by-pass to take the lorries and traffic away from the school at Steam Mills where I am a governor. The school supports the Northern Quarter project.

We have been lucky no-one has been killed outside the school – I just hope our luck holds up and we get to see the by-pass built soon.

When I was a boy I used to play in that area, where the trains used to run up and down and the brickworks was going full pelt and it was all wasteland.

The funny thing is that at that time wildlife was abundant with more rare birds, butterflies, frogs, newts, etc.

This has always stuck in my mind because I actually did a project at school on that area.

Then over the years, everything has grown over and a lot of the birds, butterflies etc have moved on from what I have seen.

Now let’s talk about what is going on. We have got bats in that area, so they have built bat roosts for them – little bungalows for them – three in number built and so good it’s a wonder some Cinderford residents haven’t moved in.

Ants have been surveyed, fingertips searches for newts and frogs, butterflies, etc – all this work has been done, which is of course, a good thing.

Considering what has been said about the project cutting down the woods of Cinderford, killing all wildlife, that you can’t build on it because of the underground lagoon, the next thing no doubt will be the lost world of Cinderford with dinosaurs and cavemen and women.

The only dinosaurs in the Forest are the people who oppose this project.

Nearly half of Cinderford is built over mines, my house is. In Wales and the Midlands they have taken the money and built over their coalfields.

I am a builder – you can build on any ground conditions these days and this is the last area of land that can be developed in Cinderford.

After this there is no more land to develop.

I ask these objectors where are future jobs coming from? What happens when the college goes back to Gloucester and our children have to travel to Gloucester every day – do they even care?

The Forest of Dean will just become one big retirement home with all our young people leaving. There is nothing to keep them here – it is so sad.

I have three children aged 15, 11 and six. Is there a future for them in the Forest? Not if the Dean Natural Alliance get its way. No Forest of Dean college, the loss of 1500 jobs and affordable housing.

Let’s put another thing right about what these people have been saying – that the money could be spent elsewhere in the Forest.

Well the fact is if the money is not spent on the Northern Quarter it will spent in another part of the country and it will be lost forever to the people of the Forest of Dean.

I love wildlife but we must have a balance. The way things are going, the only rare species will be children – loads of wildlife but no children.

I and my fellow councillors try to do our best for the people of the Forest Of Dean. We need local jobs, need affordable housing, need the new college, need good roads and Cinderford needs another supermarket to have more competition in the town.

This is a working Forest, not a museum as some people seem to want.

All I want is a future for our children.

– Cllr Max Coborn (Lab), Forest of Dean District Council, Cinderford East.

Northern Arc - Part 2

To follow on from my last post regarding the proposed development (Northern Arc) at the Northern United site near Steam Mills, I have given you some facts below as well as highlighting some of the reasons why I feel this site is unsuitable for development.
There are links at the bottom of the post if you wish to aire your views and support.
______________________________________________

Firstly, Northern United is the last remaining deep mine in the Forest of Dean and the surrounding area (proposed development site) is riddled with old mines and chambers. The area has been prone to flooding in the past and this, coupled with the unstable ground will cause major problems in the future due to subsidence and ground collapses.
I am not an expert on mining like my father, so I will not elaborate on this, but I come from a mining family with my father working all the pits throughout the Forest of Dean when he was young (Northern United included). My grandfather also worked the mines and my great grandfather lost a leg in a Forest pit at the age of 15!

The Northern United pit buildings, including bath house are an eyesore, but why are they an eyesore? They have been left derelict, with the surrounding area fenced off to the general public and this area is now overgrown with brambles etc. This is the reason it is an eyesore, but this site should not have been earmarked for demolition because of our unwillingness to preserve it.
The news that these buildings are to be demolished to make way for a road is very unsettling as it is of the utmost importance that these buildings are kept intact and restored so that the young people of today understand and realise the struggles that their ancestors went through to put bread on the table. Of course we must move forward, but at what cost? We must “never” forget our past as it is this history, which made us and our communities what they are today.
As you are aware, the Forest of Dean was formally a Royal Hunting ground and it is steeped in history, heritage and culture, all of which is now under threat.

The Forest of Dean is a very special place for local people and visitors alike. This is why we fought so hard to save our forest; our biggest asset, from the threat of commercialisation and development. However, we are now facing another threat called the Northern Quarter Area Action Plan or (Northern Arc Project), which will undermine all of the hard work and see hundreds of acres of woodland and unique habitats destroyed. Many local council leaders apposed the sale of our forest and fought hard, along with the community to safeguard our most valuable asset, yet today these same people are the ones pushing forward with plans to destroy it!

Phase one of the Cinderford Northern Quarter Area Action Plan or (Northern Arc Project) will see a Spine Road slicing through the heart of the forest. The proposed road is to be street fronted with built development along the majority of its length and if implemented, the road will isolate a large proportion of the forest for future development. More than 1,000 new homes are planned to be built over the next 10 years. It will mean the loss of many historic oak trees planted under the instructions of Lord Nelson, as well as other hard wood trees and unique, ancient habitats.

Phase two will see a hotel, 175 residential houses and offices being built along the main Spine Road.

Phase three will see more residential housing and offices built around an idyllic lake, which supports a massive variety of wildlife, including very rare endangered species like the otter, water vole and great crested newt.

With the shortage of work in the area I can not see the logic in erecting over 1,000 new homes, as we will then see a massive explosion of people requiring employment in the area. The potential initial increase of 300 to 400 cars will then build up to around 1,500 to 2,000 in an area that’s road infrastructure can hardly cope now and it will be an environmental nightmare.
The main build area consists of open land as well as unique habitats, which supports a wide variety of endangered species. Of these wildlife species many are on the Red List for protection and the area has been surveyed by professionals. During the surveys, all endangered species except one were found, yet the plans are still being pushed through, why?

To see a list of the endangered species present at this site, see my previous post.

I am "NOT" against plans to regenerate Cinderford and I applaud the hard work put in by the many who have visioned this. However, Northern United, with its history, wildlife and unique habitats is probably the worst place they could have picked.
To some it may look like an eyesore, but that all depends how you are looking upon it. For me and I know I speak for many, this site is not ugly, it is undisturbed and this is what our wildlife requires today. A place where they feel safe.

Doesn't anyone give a damn about our wildlife anymore? Why do we have to keep fighting to save it from the clowns with blinkers on?

Some links for you, if you wish to help save this site. Please help or one day it may be too late when our forest is covered with tarmac and concrete!

Woodwatch

Save Our Forests

I also advise all to write to the Forest of Dean District Council, MP Mark Harper and David Cameron to raise your concerns and appose these plans.

Will keep you updated.

Rob