What was to be a protest at Speech House this Saturday will now be a victory celebration.

Baroness Jan Royall of Blaisdon will take down the Hands Off Our Forest sign opposite Speech House at 1pm in a symbolic getsure, following news that the Government is to perform a U-turn on all its plans for the public forest estate.

Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered environment secretary Caroline Spelman to scrap clauses in the Public Bodies Bill that would allow for our Forest and others across England to be taken out of public hands and dump the consultation, which HOOF declared was "fundamentally flawed".

HOOF campaigners are remaining vigilant until the U-turn is official, but all the indications are that the Government has completely backed down in the face of massive opposition, which united people from across the spectrum.

The ditching of the proposal, which could have seen the Forest of Dean being leased off or transferred freehold to a charity or charities, came after surveys which showed that not only were the vast majority of the general population opposed to it, but a majority of Conservative Party members.

But the issue only began to snowball, with national coverage, following a HOOF rally attended by more than 3,000 people at Speech House Meadow on January 3. A few weeks later, a council delegation led by Coun Andrew Gardiner (Ind, Lydbrook & Ruardean) ensured HOOF's cause was echoing down the corridors of power in Westminster and Whitehall.

Now campaigners will return to a hurriedly organised ceremony of the taking down of one of the many protest signs that have adorned trees and roadsides for the past few months.

Initially, the event was to be a protest against a Government order to take down the signs and they were to be redistributed. Now it appears they could be mementoes of the strength of people power, and the closing of yet another chapter in which Foresters took on the might of the powers-that-be and won.

Hands Off Our Forest and its oak-leaf logo, were conceived by Forester editor Viv Hargreaves in October 2010 in response to news that the Government intended to sell off the public forest estate. A steering group was formed at the instigation of Dean Forest Voice within days, which agreed to adopt HOOF as the campaign's name.

Rich Daniels, chairman of HOOF, recently said the breadth of the alliance formed to fight the Government's plans showed "strength in diversity".

HOOF quickly gathered massive support – with the only people openly disputing its aims and supporting the Government proposals, Conservative MP Mark Harper and the Forest's Tory district and county councillors, with the notable exception of Terry Hale.

Editor Viv Hargreaves said: "This is fantastic news for the Forest of Dean and all who live here. It is a wonderful victory for all those who have supported the HOOF campaign - the thousands who turned out for the HOOF rally in January in bitter weather with a snow storm - that was testament to the strength of feeling this issue has raised.

"The HOOF steering group led by Rich Daniels has done an amazing job spending hours fighting for our Forest to be safe and Councillors Andrew Gardiner and Terry Hale who took a delegation to Westminster must also be congratulated.

"People power has won the day - but we must still be vigilant that in case there is any last twist in this Forest tale."