MPs debate county farm sell-offs
‘County farms’ are land holdings owned by Local Authorities and managed in-house or by an external agent on the authority’s behalf. Every farm is unique and the amount of capital required to let will vary. The major influence in getting a tenancy for a county farm will be the applicant’s management/business plan. Hinterland readers will already be familiar with the decline of county farms –particularly as Councils have been tasked by central Government to release ‘excess’ land and property.
This article tells us how Defra minister George Eustice wants to reinvigorate England’s system of tenanted county farms so it offers new entrants a “real option” to carve a career in agriculture.
Acknowledging that the Government is powerless to stop cash-strapped county councils from selling off their farms, Mr Eustice said the 1970 Agriculture Act nonetheless gave Defra scope to work with Local Authorities to help them to “refine” their plans. “We cannot block them from selling those assets – they have a statutory right to do that – but we have a role to play in working with them on any plans for reorganisation of their county farms,” Mr Eustice told MPs during a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday 10 May.
The debate was tabled by Wealden MP Nusrat Ghani to discuss the length and security of farm tenancies. Mr Eustice was responding to a question by shadow Defra minister Nick Smith, who asked what the government was doing to help tenant farmers. Mr Smith said: “County council farm estates are an increasingly painful issue for tenant farmers that the government needs to address. Herefordshire Council has become the latest to sell off its estates – land that provided a good entry point for young farmers.”