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The Odiham Common Management plan

  • "All we ask for is to retain this common land for its ancient common purpose: OUR needs and the right, established in law, to enjoy its woods and calm with sympathetic management."
  • "The obduracy and undemocrati"
  • actions of this quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization (Natural England) is both unbelievable and unacceptable." - "Autocracy is vile and leads to discontent. Any Management Plan produced by a local council, so under pressure from Natural England, which includes fencing for grazing animals against the will of the local population, must face failure if the exercise is run fairly."

Elynor Gilbert Founder of the Odiham Common Preservation Society

Read Elynor's full, detailed comments on the Management Plan below.

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The Odiham Common Management plan

Elynor Gilbert Founder of the Odiham Common Preservation Society

Odiham Common Preservation Society As founder of the Odiham Common Preservation Society in 1994 and its chairman for many years, I am again having to fight for what I believe to be those essential values of democratic fairness and justice as we perceive them to be in England.

Odiham Common is a Hampshire age-old woodland, protected by its own and national legislation against change and mischief, donated in 1945 for the use of the people of the area for their enjoyment, for air and exercise, and which has always been openly and freely accessible to all. It has never been totally fenced.

Be it riders or walkers, picnicers or schoolchildren, this common provides happiness to so many seeking tranquility and beauty and the unusual sensation in our country, these days, of the ability to wander to one's heart's delight without government interference. All it asks for is respect. All we ask for is to retain this common land for its ancient common purpose: OUR needs and the right, established in law, to enjoy its woods and calm with sympathetic management.

Along, though, comes English Nature/Natural England, who tell us that because they have issued a SSSI designation on it.

THEY will control it, but not care for it;

THEY will tell the local council how to manage it and the Council will do their bidding;

THEY will demand this in exchange for financial grants to manage the land.

There is a word for this. Their commitment in recent years has been focused on cattle grazing - not people - and, therefore, on our rat-race road bounding the Common leading to the local station, fencing will be erected (the last lot kept falling down and the gates stolen!) so as to restrain these cattle, if possible.

The fertilization of this land, they demand, must be carried out by cattle and not by deer, horses, badgers, rabbits and the plethora of smaller animals as has occurred over centuries, if not millenia, and still continues daily.

A past EN administrator actually told me that she would not allow "dogs to defecate" and they would have to be on leads. We all walk dogs, we ride, we relish the sensation of love for our animals, happy to see them share in our happiness.

But the Spanish Inquisition says no to all this emotion. Cows there will be - or no money will ensue for the management of this lovely common.

Stuart RoystonStuart Royston (pictured left) has told you of the very high percentage of local people who have opposed this plan, year after year. Some 86% objected this year alone. He has told you of two Public Inquiries which we led, one unexplainably lost in 1998 (despite an extremely high percentage of objections) and one which we won in 2003, which finally and categorically opposed fencing on the grounds that "it would not be to the benefit of the neighbourhood" (i.e. people) and "that the harm would be such as to outweigh the benefit" to us all. Could it be clearer than that?

The obduracy and undemocratic actions of this quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization is both unbelievable and unacceptable.

It IS government.

It HAS become autonomous.

We have all been affected by the legislation that EN/NE have inspired the government to accept. We are, too often, constrained by them rather than protected. Every one of us here wants to protect our environment but biodiversity exists without Natural England.

Like leylandii and herb gardens, like flower-power and heavy-metal, they all have their day and fade away but if Natural England has its ways, with its fencing and gates, with its in-your-face signage and cattle-grids and extensive tree felling, it will leave our land the poorer, in both monetary terms and spiritually - because we all need that space, that greenness, that moment of rest and fresh air, and they will deny us this in favour of cows.

Fashions, even in the world of environment, have a finite period. Autocracy is vile and leads to discontent. Any Management Plan produced by a local council, so under pressure from Natural England, which includes fencing for grazing animals against the will of the local population, must face failure if the exercise is run fairly.

Odiham Common is a precious commodity in this day and age, a place of no barriers, of true natural England, a quagmire in winter, a delight in spring and sheer beauty in the summer.

Please come and judge for yourselves.

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