Friday, May 09, 2008

           WE HAVE WON !!!           Forestry Commission Backdown !!!            Thank You To Everyone for your support

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  Norfolk County Council contacted us Thursday April 3rd to advise us that the Forestry Commission have WITHDRAWN their proposals for Hockham Woods.

 Read the Forestry Commission's Climbdown letter here

A massive thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to complete the objections forms either on paper or on-line. We estimate that over 80% of villagers have now registered their objections at County Hall which is a huge proportion and underlines the strength of feeling and commitment we all have against these proposals.  Thanks again to everyone who added their name to the Old No 10 E-Petition, which reached a fantastic 1,072 number of signatories before it closed on March 29th.  Out of the 8500 live on-line petitions on the government site ours climbed up to the 130 spot in only four weeks! 

Can you all continue to sign up to our New No 10 E-Petition, which petitions the Prime Minister to "Stop the Forestry Commission selling off our resources for short term commercial gain and to abide by the role it was originally created for"

 
Latest

Monday April 21st 8pm - Action Group Meeting - Great Hockham Village Hall

The meeting will bring everyone up to date, explain why we believe the Forestry Commission withdrew their proposals, play the video and song (for those that haven't seen/heard them) and explain our plans for the future.

Forestry Commission back down
The Forestry Commision took over two years to prepare their proposals, but less than 7 weeks after they were made public, they have backed down and withdrawn them...

Given that Hockham Woods is designated as an EU SPA (Special Protection Area) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) the Forestry Commission should never have put this site forward in the first place.

The Forestry Commision should not be allowed to sell off Britain’s Forest and Woodland for commercial gain and must be made to abide by the role it was originally created for which is the "Protection and Expansion of our Forests and Woodlands".

We will be continuing to campaign as we think that this is part of a much bigger story that goes straight to the heart of government.  We will continue to pursue this until we get the truth.. 

View our Video "Saving Hockham Woodlands" on “You Tube” along with other media sites.

Sign our NEW No 10 e-Petition. This one calls for the Forestry Commission to be stopped from continuing to be able to destroy, or sell off Britain’s Forest and Woodland for commercial gain and to abide by the role it was originally created for which is the Protection and Expansion of our Forests and Woodlands.

We have also posted contacts details for the Forestry Commission in a new section titled Contact the Forestry in case anyone would like to air their views with them directly... and we encourage you to do so !!

Lastly, if you have not already registered on our website please do so, as it allows us to email you with updates of what is going on and how you can help. (Click on Register on at the top right of this page).

 
HAWITAGE Action Group

 

The Hockham And Wretham In Tandem Against Gravel Extraction Action Group was formed to fight the Forestry Commission's proposals to select Hockham & Wretham as a site for a massive Sand & Gravel Quarry, then to add insult to injury they intended to fill the hole (which would have been big enough to swallow over 44,000 double decker buses) with Waste Landfill!

Hockham Woods is 316 acres of forestry and woodland and is designated as an EU SPA (Special Protection Area) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).  The Forestry's proposals included a concrete batching plant, an asphalt plant and an aggregate processing plant, generating plenty of noise and dust too!
 
The proposed site (which stretches for over a mile between Wretham, Hockham & Illington) is shown in red below:

 

If you want to see what we have been up to these past weeks go to the Action Group Events section

Norfolk County Council announced on March 26th that they have extended the consultation period on the Forestry Commission's Quarry & Landfill proposals by a further 4 weeks.  So for those of you that haven’t responded, you still have time... 

Action Group Hands in Response Forms & Petition at County Hall - Friday March 28th

Action Group members presenting the boxes of objection forms to Councillor Adrian Gunson (seated) Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation and Mr Nick Johnson, Planning Services Manager at County Hall.  

     

'Stig' a local musician, has written a special song in support of the campaign, click here to go to his website and listen to it.

 

PLEASE READ THIS as there is confusion about REGISTERING on this website

Registering on this website only gives us your email address, which allows us to email you with news, developments and requests for help.  That's all it does, it does NOT register any objections with Norfolk County Council and it does NOT put your name on the NO 10 E-Petition.
Registering your comments with Norfolk County Council, is a completely different exercise, which may either be done on-line, or in writing, using the appropriate NCC Form.

Registering your comments and objections with Norfolk County Council is what this whole exercise is actually about.  You need time to both sort out what you wish to say and to actually make the comments.  Please don’t leave this till the last minute as this is not a five minute job! 

Signing the No 10 E-Petition registers your name with the Prime Minister at Downing Street on the "Stop the Proposal for Mineral Extraction and Landfill at Hockham Woods Norfolk"petition, Entering your details on the Downing Street website results in them being stored there, NOT on this website, more importantly it does NOT register any objections with Norfolk County Council and it does NOT give us your email address. 

To register for this website just click on Register in the top right hand corner of the screen and fill in the various fields.  Once you are registered you will receive a confirmation email and we will then give you regular updates on our progress.
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