On the 12th of February, I rode my horses through the Sappi forest, as I have done once a week for the past 10 years. I own a farm that borders the Sappi forest of Beacon Hill in Howick. Firstly, I tried to avoid and go around the operations that were happening in the forest, but the staff shouted at me, telling me that I had to go through the operations, even though that was clearly more dangerous for myself and my horse. I begged the staff to let me go around the operations, but they screamed at me and told me that I had to use the road. It was clear to me that the road was the most dangerous place to ride my horse, and the best way to keep us all safe was to go off the road and avoid the forestry operations. I was screamed at by the staff.
When I finally got past and was trying to get out of the forestry, I was stopped by the operations manager, Andrew. He told me that I was not allowed in the forest and that I was banned from the forestry for life. When I first started riding in the forest over 10 years ago, I got permission to ride in the forest from the mountain biking association that had an agreement with Sappi at the time. I was instructed that I had full permission to ride in the forest, but mountain bikes had the right of way. Previous operations managers had been polite and considerate, giving full permission to ride in the forest as long as I avoided operations and caused no harm. I tried to do the same today but was forced into very dangerous situations by the staff and banned for life by Andrew, the operations manager, for doing something that I had been given full permission to do by other operations managers and Sappi staff.
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