National Trust's Scheme Is Crazy

THE National Trust s people have delivered three more glossy brochures/leaflets about their so-called Wicken Vision to my mailbox and, presumably, to hundreds of others. One of the leaflets, entitled Ambling with Animals, is particularly interesting t

THE National Trust's people have delivered three more glossy brochures/leaflets about their so-called 'Wicken Vision' to my mailbox and, presumably, to hundreds of others.

One of the leaflets, entitled Ambling with Animals, is particularly interesting to me, as a 95 per cent retired farmer living close enough to the so-called Vision to see what is going on.

The Trust claims that the recently introduced large grazing animals, Konik polski horses and Highland cattle (real old Fen breeds, eh?), are important to the Vision as managing such a substantial area (of former food-growing land) with machinery is not "climate friendly or sustainable". Perhaps the Trust's people will explain to your readers why it is that large machinery is being used on the Trust's land as I write to cut down what must be an embarrassing amount of rubbish and thistles.

And the leaflet rightly warns visitors to beware of the large animals. I am wondering what the Trust wants. Visitors? They are scared stiff. Wildlife? It is suffering from the cutting that's going on right now. To work amicably alongside its farming neighbours? They are receiving weed seeds on the wind from the Trust's land.

This scheme is crazy and we locals, farmers and non-farmers, are appalled by what the Trust is already doing to us.

GEOFFREY WOOLLARD

River Bank

Upware