Exempt forests from the Infrastructure Bill

Brilliant news

I received this email from 38 Degrees today:

"Our forests have been saved - again! And together we played a huge part in that.

The government was trying to sneak through plans which would have paved the way for our forests to be sold off. But at the very last minute, they backed down. They u-turned and made changes which mean our forests will be protected - in law. [1]

This is huge. For months, forest campaigners have been fighting for this. [2] In the last 24 hours, over 150,000 of us signed a petition backing them. And it was carried into the House of Lords debate by Baroness Royall who’s been battling the plans. [3]

As the debate started thousands of us took to Twitter. Together, we made sure they knew we were watching. [4] The government was well aware that they were fighting a losing battle.

Baroness Royall wanted to thank 38 Degrees members:

“This is a big victory for everyone that has campaigned to protect our forests. The 38 Degrees petition was a vital part of that. I’m grateful to all who showed their support.”

A few years ago, when it looked like the government was going to sell our forests, 38 Degrees members fought long and hard to save them. [5] And we won. This latest campaign proves how much power we have when we scramble together quickly to stand up for something we care about.

Could you donate to make sure we are always ready to jump in at key moments like these? 38 Degrees is 100% independent - so we’ll never take money from big business or government. Instead 38 Degrees relies entirely on donations from members like you. Can you chip in £2 or £3 a week? With your help now, we can take things to a new level."

granjura you're so right about it being worthwhile. I think 38 Degrees have a lot of credence these days, so perhaps more people will be willing to sign their petitions. Let's hope so

150.000 in the last 24 hrs only

I know people are often concerned about having to sign up for a petition- but it works- and therefore so worthwhile.
Amazing how fast half a million people signed- well done you.

Signed. I think I already did - but it may have been a different one.

Well, it worked for the forests. They have been exempted. Do not know about fracking, though.

Signed

signed and shared - I really hope many here will do too.

It's also the bill which will allow fracking under your lovely gardens.

No apology needed MiniMouse, I was glad to see your post.

Apologies grannya, I thought there had been something on here before, but didn't have time to do a search today. Strange that there's so little interest, as it could have such a drastic effect on everyone's lives

I wrote about this back in June MiniMouse, www.gransnet.com/forums/in_the_news/a1208154-Please-please-please-take-note?msgid=25292230 but somehow the Infrastructure Bill has not caught the public imagination in the way the proposed Forestry sell-off did. There has been almost no media interest and yet this Bill has the potential to not only destroy our forests, but to impact on public rights of way, allotment and amenity land etc.