Hands Off Hartlebury Common

Steve McCarron

/ #946 common facts

2011-07-17 15:04

Steve, NE was a rebadging of EN which I am sure you know.EN was an evolved Nature Conservancy Council.Going back to the 70's when I worked for an NCC council member they appeared to be a decent bunch intent on good BUT a gradual usurping of the organisation by jobsworths,rose tinted glasses and career conservationists coupled with DEFRA's bent toward farm subsidies(now ELS/HLS)has totally derailed what could have been an inspiring World leading exemplar of good practise.Don't get me wrong,money is a huge factor AND it will be their downfall.The environment is set to be the biggest industry in the World so it attracts interests that are not necessarily having our environments best interests at heart.Certainly the current tranche of grants are agriculturally targeted BUT the economic downturn will curtail that approach thus" downfall".Europe has already announced intended cutbacks to environmental budgets THUS pulling the rug from under claims of sustainability.Suspension equates to expenditure.Expenditure equates to global damage as money can only be generated by material damage.Europe 'progresses'(suspends/stands still)other areas of the World are degraded as a result!As an example of an agenda/suspension lead project heathland is being subjected to,as you know,a one size fits all programme that will fail BUT in their haste they failed to recognise,in fact denied,the existence of natural self sustaining heathland.Only on a challenge by me through Jim Paice did NE admit its existence.Thus a man made environment became more important than one of the rarest global environments that has never been surveyed meaning that the ignorant(local NE staff)could agree to HLS payments to graze natural sites that leading authorities(ITE/CEO)state "should NEVER be grazed".I could quote many similar examples but lay the blame for all problems at Helen Philips door.Any organisations culture reflects the boardroom and it is clear that she has little time for anything but agenda 'drives'.As one NE senior manager told Ian,Craig and I "we will have succeeded if we just put money into the rural economy".He meant farmers not shops/post offices/schools.If the will exists to reverse nature's fortunes the simplest way would be to halt population growth. " " " " " " " " embrace the public to reengage them and harness their energy. " " " " " " " " let nature manage itself on at least 60% of our land mass.etc etc.BUT the need for food to fuel our population is pressing ingresses in natural areas.The need to justify this is thus pressing NE into arrogance/disregard/unlawfullness and a disregard of their prime objective.Anyway the recognition of motives etc are secondary to stopping them.I wrote to you of the means to stop them but you did not respond to the key issues of the laws that we must pursue to show them as they are,Steve.