Quantock News

At a press conference today, councillor David Huxtable announced that Somerset County Council has completed the sale of Great Wood to the Forestry Commission. The very same body that the government wanted to dispose of last year.

Councillor Huxtable further announced that negotiations to sell further parts of the Quantock Hills are in progress.

Although the Forestry Commission is, currently, a body to be trusted with stewardship of such a precious asset, the fact of the matter remains that there is still uncertainty as to their own future. This in turn leaves the future of this much loved, and probably the most used part of the Quantocks, a hostage to fortune.

Councillor Huxtable stated that, "The terms of the sale that we have, we think protects the land.". However, when I pushed him, more than once, to be explicit about what terms in the sale he was referring to, he did not appear able to give a direct answer.

Great Wood has been sold by one public body to another, currently, public body for the sum of £250,000 - before expenses. In the overall picture of the Council finances this is a very small sum. In fact the only reason that just one man was able to take the decision to sell is because the totality of the land on the Quantock Hills has been declared a 'minor asset' by SCC.

Make your mind up! Either the sale of this land will go a long way towards saving our schools, roads and bus services - or it is a minor asset. You just can't have it both ways!

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