When Mick Holder Chairman of the Commoners association invited me to a meeting to discuss commoning in the Forest of Dean ,we were both in agreement that it would not be another “talking shop”
This is not a reset of the sheep liaison group . This is a new, collective , who wish to manage and promote commoning in the forest of dean .
The Commoners Association , Forestry England , The Police and Trading Standards all work hard in trying to ensure commoning is in line with accepted practices.
What this new group is looking to do is bring all parties together, to include local councils and give the group real purpose and drive.
I will be asking the FODDC to include this group as part of our "appointments to outside bodies" decision making process.
To give this group even more emphasis I will propose that the leader of FODDC (whoever that may be but I hope might be me), is appointed to this group.
Yes it is about sheep in particular but I believe it should also be about all our traditions and our heritage.
For too long we have seen commoning as a bit of a difficult issue.
One where the negatives are advertised and spoken about , where the emphasis is always on those shepherds outside of the commoners association who may not have the same standards or follow the codes of our Commoners association members.
Yes we need to find ways to address straying sheep, faeces in places faeces shouldn't be and we need to be able to deal with some of the frankly horrendous animal welfare issues many of us see or have reported to us .
Welfare issues which cause our partner organisations so much expensive work and time.
We need to find the resource , the evidence and the united will to ensure that these negatives are stopped and stopped once and for all .
But we also need to celebrate good shepherding and good commoning and show what a wonderful part of the Deans Heritage and history it can be.
Alongside Free mining it is part of the bedrock of what makes this district so very special.
We should want new responsible shepherds coming forward to keep this tradition going in a sustainable and acceptable way.
It is part of the culture and the extraordinary rich tapestry of life as a Forester, we must enjoy it, embrace it and have ways and means to stop those that are seeking to damage it by not adhering to agreements and good practices.
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