I REALLY enjoy walking in Delamere Forest.

I love it because I live in a built up town and it is my opportunity to get some fresh air, exercise and time to relax.

I have walked since I was a young lad and thought that in recent years access was getting better.

This Government needs to realise that we need to move forward not backward in terms of access. I am all for some walking to Parliament.

It has been almost a year since the secretary of state bowed to public pressure and put on hold proposals to sell England’s Forestry Estate.

An independent panel was set up to look at the future of all forests in England and, along with the ramblers, I am worried that people think that the battle has been won and our woodland walks are safe for future generations.

The panel is busy gathering information for its final report in the spring.

I welcome its initial recommendation that the forests currently owned by the Forestry Commission should remain publicly owned, with a high level of public access.

However Forestry Commission land only accounts for 18 per cent of English woodlands and I think this is a golden opportunity for the panel to look at the other 82 per cent of woodland and truly put public access at the heart of forestry policy in England.

We still need to fight for a future of woodland walking.

CHARLES SAWYER Great Sankey