By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
There are calls for a referendum to decide whether the Forest of Dean should go ahead with its bid for Unesco Biosphere reserve status.
Forest of Dean District Council leaders have been working over the last eight years on the project with the ultimate aim of achieving the prestigious status for the area.
They say Biosphere status would celebrate the unique natural and cultural heritage of the Forest of Dean while boosting sustainable economic growth and attracting investment. And it would put it on a par internationally with parts of the Amazon rainforest, Yellowstone National Park and parts of Hawaii.
But opponents fear it could turn the area into a theme park or restrict access rights – something those behind the scheme have denied would happen.
After concerns were raised over insufficient consultation councillors voted in May to allow for six months of further consultation with towns and parish councils. And two motions on the council’s Biosphere bid were due to be debated by the district council last week.
However, the meeting ran on for three hours and Chair Di Martin (L, Cinderford East) decided to end the meeting and postpone the rest of the business to be discussed instead tomorrow (October 28).
The council’s rules dictate that a meeting must not run more than three hours unless the chair considers its remaining business can be debated within a further hour.
One of the motions up for debate, which was due to be tabled by councillor Bernie O’Neill (Progressive Independents, Ruspidge), calls for more consultation and a community panel made up of district councillors, the Commoners Association, Verderers, Freeminers, and all parish and town councils to examine the proposal.
If approved, the panel would review all of the evidence, publish its findings and then a district-wide referendum would be held alongside the elections in May next year.
Councillor Stuart Graham (I, Mitcheldean) had time to introduce the other motion on the Unesco Biosphere on October 22 which asked for “evidence, scrutiny and responsible use of public money”.
He said: “The key issue is the evidence used to support the Unesco Biosphere application is not independent or fit for purpose enough to commit more money and officer time.
“Best practice is that before now we should have had an independent business case examining the strategic, economic, commercial, financial and management factors.”
He claimed a report by the Forest Economic Partnership from 2019, which highlights the benefits of Biosphere status, is not an independent business case and “did not validly substitute as one”.
“The report’s claim that every £1 invested in a Forest Biosphere would return £3.89 is still propagated as though it were an established economic fact. It is not.
“It is demonstrably wrong and must be withdrawn.”
He was then quizzed by other councillors about the evidence behind his motion.
Councillor Andrew McDermid (G, Lydney East) asked if the other councils supporting the seven existing Biospheres in the UK had commissioned the type of independent business case Cllr Graham’s motion demands.
Cllr Graham said his concern was for the Forest of Dean only and claimed their economic report “misrepresents the research that it actually cites”.
He said: “I have no idea whether the other economic cases prepared elsewhere have been conducted to the same standards. I’ve only looked at ours.”
And Cllr Johnathan Lane (G, Tidenham) asked if Cllr Graham had any evidence that Biosphere designations cause harm.
Cllr Graham said he had not claimed they caused economic harm. He said he submitted the evidence that the report was misrepresented to the council.
Cllr Lane pressed him further and said “what I’m driving at is, do these [Biospheres] harm economies?”
Cllr Graham said he did not produce the research.
“The Forest Economic Partnership did it in 2019, all I’ve done is taken it apart,” he said. “I haven’t conducted any research at all.”
He went on to say that the prospect of harm to the economy is “exactly what this motion is about”.
“It’s about getting an independent business case this time by properly qualified, accountable regulated professionals who do not have the motivation to go out and find an argument for something that doesn’t actually exist.”
The meeting was cut short as the three-hour mark had been arrived at.
And chair Di Martin said there was “too much debate” left for the business to be concluded within one further hour.
She ended the meeting and the remaining business including the Biosphere motions will be debated at a full council meeting tomorrow (October 28).