Calls to reinstate free-roaming sheep group in Forest of Dean

Calls are being made to reinstate a group to deal with issues of free roaming sheep in the Forest of Dean.

The running of sheep through public land in the forest is a tradition dating back more than 800 years.

In 2001, Sheep Liaison Group of different organisations was set up to manage the animals following the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

The Commoners Association now wants the group to be re-established.

There are currently about 45 registered commoners in the district, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

On December 2, the Commoners Association voted unanimously for the group to be re-established with an independent chairman.

"Members were asked if they wanted to resurrect the Sheep Liaison Group meeting or not," said the association's general secretary Mick Holder.

"There was a consideration for a long time to step out of it.

"What is really important for this group to run successfully is we've got to have a chairman who is totally independent. Not somebody who is on the Commoners side or the Forestry side or the council side.

"We need a person from the general public who is interested in the wellbeing of the sheep and the Forest of Dean."

The sheep liaison group includes representatives from the Commoners' Association, Forestry England, the Forest District Council, Gloucestershire County Council and the police.

Councillor Terry Hale, from Gloucestershire County Council, said he was supportive of the proposals.

"We've been allocated funding from the Coleford Partnership to finance whatever we need to alleviate and get the sheep liaison group up and running with the other bodies," he said.

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