Monday 15 October 2012

Bent on Manipulation


We always knew that the SMP "Master Plan" consultation would be an exercise in manipulation so it's disappointing, but hardly surprising, that this turns out to be the case. Evidence for this is to be seen in the summarizing of comments - views from the public amassed at the Post-It-Note evenings - carefully filtered to show what the managers want to be seen - in the Master Plan draft.

You should read the full document (Moor Views Combined Workshop Summary Report) recording comments by accessing it from this page. (The relevant part of that document is on the subject of 'Sustainable Land Management' pages 24 - 29.)
The draft Master Plan gives its own account of those Post-It-Note views and summarizes the public’s views under a heading referring to ‘Key Issues’. That’s reproduced here.
But what happened to all the comments received asking for a more natural landscape with less management? There were plenty of these but are they reflected in the managers' summary which claims to summarise the comments that came in ? The answer is 'No'.

It’s really time that we established beyond doubt that the official job title of these managers should be ‘manipulators’.

On the subject of 'Sustainable Land Management' from the 'Moor Views Combined Workshop Summary Report', there had been 141 Post-It-Note comments, most of them about individual details and quite a few wrongly included in this section because they are about access issues or archaeology and not strictly on land management. Some were about specific wildlife interest, e.g. deer or adders. But there were two groups of comments, the two largest, coming separately from each of the three 'Post-It-Note' meetings along with others sent in afterwards that were definitely about land management and which can be identified as having a particular angle.


Having gone through the 141 comments I've counted a group of 21 which are clearly coming from the 'traditional' farming 'we must manage the land' lobby. Not at all surprising given the way the farmers and managers organize and lobby for their own vested interest.

Typical comments from this group are:

“The old style management of the moorlands should be kept. Farmers and gamekeepers are the best conservationists”,

“Active management of heather through burning (rotational) and cutting to preserve area and increase biodiversity mosaic”

“The SMP should consider ways in which it can support the farming community and the valuable contribution they make to land management in the area”


It may be said that these comments are reflected in the following statement in the Key Issues part of the draft plan:

"There is a need to reconnect the historic farming system links between in-bye grassland and moorland."

But on the other hand there are another 26 comments that can be broadly categorized as coming from the opposite perspective: i.e. the land should be more natural and allowed to go its own way, less top down management etc.

Typical comments along these lines are:

“More natural land where nature and wildlife go their own way”

“Let the vegetation grow if it wants to – less burning and grazing”

“Have the courage to escape from the comfort zone of more farming and make the land really special – a large area free from command and control. Be free. The only way to be distinctive”

These comments and the ideas behind them are simply not referred to in the ‘Key Issues’ in the Master Plan draft. So why have they been swept aside?  An argument was put forward that it was essential for more debate and discussion and partly because of the difference of view and the need for getting closer to consensus.

One commenter is quoted in the Moor Views document who  might have seen little to be gained from such debate. But I have to agree with his other sentiments.

As I came to this process very late in the day, I have not had the time I would have liked before the deadline for comments to go into the depth that I would prefer in formulating my comments. However, I have read through the documents on your website and I have to say that I cannot see a convincing case for creating another layer of bureaucracy, nor for a “master plan”. This seems to be another excuse for top-down management to impose uniformity across a very large area, with a minimum of accountability. It is astonishing to imply that the existing public authorities and charities who hold the land on behalf of the public cannot collaborate when necessary, without the formal establishment of a new over-arching body. I have also ploughed through the numerous comments which have been collected. In many cases comments are diametrically opposed and often appear to be the product of people pursuing their own particular agendas and there can be no hope of reconciliation between them. My own position is that, unless there is a pressing need for intervention, Nature should be allowed to take its course. If that means the return of vegetation, including trees, to places where it grew in the past, even millennia ago, so be it. Nor should policy and management methods be determined by the facility to obtain public money in the form of grants and without regard to the desires and needs of the local population. As I don’t see the need for a master plan, you will not be surprised that I don’t see the need for deadlines. They are just a stratagem for pressurizing people into acceptance of your proposals without giving them too much thought.

Amen.

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