A CHUNK of publicly-owned forest could still be sold-off despite fierce opposition over plans to privatise England’s woodlands.

Plans to sell-off almost 100,000 acres of the Public Forestry Estate in the next four years to raise £100m were back on the table after the plan was suspended in February.

Caroline Spelman, Minister for the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs, halted the sell-off - which could include Chapel House Wood at Staveley and Claife at Windermere - pending the outcome of an independent review of the future of Forestry Commission land following concerns over access and biodiversity.

The panel, which is chaired by the Right Rev James Jones, The Bishop of Liverpool, was set up following the public outcry at proposals to sell-off vast swathes of Forestry Commission land and is expected to publish its recommendations in the Autumn.

But last week Ms Spelman told the Commons Environment Select Committee that 15 per cent of the Forestry Commision land would be sold in the next four years, although it is expected that she will not take any action until the review into the land is published.

Lord Clarke of Windermere, who chairs the All Party Foretsry Group in the Houses of Parliament former chair of the Forestry Commission, said:” There would be lots of woodland in the Lake District to be sold off and they are widely used forests and very much needed and used by the community.”

In February campaigners celebrated with caution when any sell-off was suspended because of concerns over access and biodiversity.

Mike Morton, a spokesman for local campaign group Savelakelands Forests (SLF), said: “It is a worrying and unsettled time at the moment because we do not know what will happen. If 15 per cent is sold off it would mean 30 to 40 per cent of the forests in the Lake District, but these are woodlands that are widely used for recreation.”

He said that SLF were planning to organise open days in forests to get more people into the woodlands.

He added: “We want local communities to take notice of their woodlands and use them more and realise what they have before they loose them because once they are gone they are gone forever.”