Gloucester council axes county farms

Gloucestershire County Council has become the latest local authority to announce the sale of tenanted farms.

Following the government’s announcement over spending restrictions, the council has decided to sell 38 of its 88 tenanted farms over the next four years.

“All the services are going through considerable change at the moment following the spending review,” said head of rural services James Benham.

The Tenant Farmers Association said the decision to slash the 8515-acre estate was a major blow to the farming ladder.

“Gloucestershire has previously been held up as an example of good practice in the management of its county farms estate, combining the functions of providing farms to individuals to become farmers in their own account, while raising significant capital receipts for council taxpayers,” said chief executive George Dunn.

“It now seems to have abandoned the hallmarks of good estate management in a knee-jerk reaction which will not provide best value for the council taxpayers.”

Since 1974, Gloucestershire County Council had raised around £50m from strategic disposals of land for development.

It had reinvested about £10m to modernise farms and purchase additional land to retain a similar sized estate over the same period.

“Once farms are sold they are gone forever,” said Mr Dunn. “There have been numerous occasions where the development benefit has been taken by the purchaser of the farm.

“The TFA is calling upon the county council to think again. It must continue with its successful long term, strategic and patient approach to disposals, which will enable maximum benefit with minimum disruption.”

County farms also helped local authorities to meet wider objectives such as environmental benefits, access to the countryside, learning outside the classroom, affordable housing and flood risk management, added Mr Dunn.

“The TFA has long advocated that there should be national co-ordination of the county farms estates.

“With the recent decisions of Somerset and now Gloucestershire we will be stepping up our pressure on DEFRA to do so, to avoid the damage to the farming ladder and loss of current and future value.”