I will continue to lend my support to the White Horse Association which has agreed to meet the Forestry Commission to try to find a way forward so they can continue to help maintain the Kilburn White Horse. The Association has been told that, for health and safety reasons, members could no longer look after the Horse despite having done so, without a significant accident, for almost five decades.
At their AGM in Kilburn Village Hall, attended by four representatives from the Forestry Commission, the Association was told that internal guidance on working with volunteers on Forestry Commission land meant that they were not properly qualified to continue the maintenance work the Association was set up to do. I cannot see any reason why the maintenance activities should not continue until there is firm and unequivocal evidence on health and safety or other grounds for them to cease activity and so I very much hope they can find a way forward.
Association Chairman, John Bielby, said “These rules are news to us. The Forestry Commission just told us that we couldn’t continue because of health and safety reasons, without going into detail. They are now offering to sit round the table with us to discuss the risks so that we can decide whether we want to train for the appropriate certificates at our own expense. I’d like to thank the Forestry Commission for all the hard work it has done and for which we are grateful. However, we are not confident that it has any intention of letting us back on the Horse and we believe it just wants us to raise funds so, for this reason, we fear we may have come to the end of the road. If we can’t find a solution in the next six months we will put the Association’s funds in Trust for future use, if the Forestry Commission is unable to look after the Horse. It will be a sad end to a dedicated band of volunteers”.
I will raise the matter again with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Kilburn White Horse is an iconic piece of North Yorkshire’s stunning landscapes and we should all be grateful for their efforts and do everything we can to support them, so long as it is consistent with health and safety practice.