Councillors deny farm estate wholesale sell-off

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Council chiefs have stressed that a new policy for the Powys County Council farms estate will not lead to its wholesale sell off.

At a meeting of the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet this coming Tuesday, senior councillors will receive a report on the draft policy for managing the farm estate. The report recommends proceeding with a 28-day consultation on it.

With 138 holdings and 10,700 acres of land, the Powys farms estate is the largest in Wales and the fifth largest in the UK.

The report by Head of Planning and Regulatory Services, Gwilym Davies, said:  “The draft policy sets out the proposed strategic vision, management objectives and operational framework for the council rural estate.

“It aims to ensure that the estate is a dynamic, resilient, and forward- looking asset, that supports the council’s broader ambitions.”

This policy replaces the 2018 county farm estate delivery plan and will be used alongside the corporate asset policy.

Mr Davies stressed: “Whilst the draft policy has been written to be able to be responsive to the requirements of the council’s medium term financial strategy, it is not a route-map or programme of asset sales.”

Council Leader, Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat) said: “We are keen to work with the industry and are planning to consult with current tenants, farming unions and young farmers clubs.”

Director of Corporate Services and s151 Officer, Jane Thomas, said: “The policy sets out a number of objectives that have the potential to require considerable investment.

“The financial demands of the estate have to be evaluated and considered against the competing demands across the council.”

Ms Thomas explains that to align with the principles behind “sustainable Powys” the results of the policy must be “affordable and at no cost” to the authority’s focus on providing statutory services.

Sustainable Powys is the umbrella term used by the council for proposals of potential cuts and savings to slim down the council in response to the funding crisis facing local authorities in Wales and the rest of the UK.

Apart from agreeing that council services will be based around five core towns Brecon, Llandrindod Wells, Newtown, Welshpool and Ystradgynlais, little detail of what the concept means has emerged.

Ms Thomas said: “All rural estate decisions must be supported by fully costed business cases or virement requests, this will ensure that any investment and the use of resources can be considered alongside the councils’ wider responsibilities.”

The draft policy includes a section related to the length of farm tenancies which will see them limited to 15 years.

Farmers that just rent “bare” council land will be “limited” to five-year tenancies.

The council says it will look to work with private estates to promote opportunities for tenants to “progress” into the private farming sector.

Farm diversification proposals could become an “obligation” for tenants and will form part of the letting decision making process.

Tenancy applicants will also need to consider proposals that “safeguard food security” as well as “biodiversity” when looking to take on a county farm.

The documents also states that the council could be stray into a potentially controversial topic.

The draft plan states: ”Opportunities to utilise the council estate to facilitate appropriate renewable energy, biodiversity and water projects, will be maximised.”

After the consultation has finished the results will be sifted through by the farming estate advisory group which has members from across the political spectrum.

Following advice from this group the policy will eventually return to cabinet for a decision.

In July, councillors voted to scrap a £10 million annual asset sales target and pause the sale of county farms in Powys.

The motion rose from a meeting in Sarn near Newtown organised by Kerry community council which discussed concerns about the sale of council farms and the impact this could have on those hoping to enter the agricultural sector.

Sales of the estate formed part of the sales target – which the council missed by a long way last year having found just over £1 million.