Chris Westcott of Natural England responds to our assertion ("Group fights goats plan for Bristol Downs", Post, April 21), that fencing off the Gully in order to put goats there is contravention of the Downs Act (which states the Downs are "to be kept open and unenclosed", by claiming that the act allows for temporary fencing "for the purpose of "improving and enclosing the turf'".

The fencing proposed for the Gully is not temporary, the area never has been, and never will be "turf".

It is broken ground, scree and rock outcrop. If it were turf, it would be possible to mow it, wouldn't it?

It is quite clear what the 1861 Downs Act intends with regards to enclosure.

He also says that the area contains only a small number of the Gorge's rare whitebeam trees.

Why then, does the Avon Gorge Management Plan of 2006, produced with advice from Natural England, say this: "The Gully ... holds the majority of the world population of Sorbus Wilmottiana", i.e., Wilmott's Whitebeam?

Roger Yates and Dr John Maher, Bristol Downswatch.