Somerset Council presses on with farm sale

Somerset County Council is to push ahead with plans to sell off two-thirds of its 60 tenanted farms, despite strong opposition from stakeholders.

At a press briefing in Taunton today (3 September), council leader Ken Maddock said the move would help to meet a predicted £75m shortfall between income and expenditure over the next three years.

“Times are wholly exceptional and the national picture is very bleak.”

With more than £350m in debt, the council had to find ways to cut costs and debt levels, he said.

The 60 council farms covered 7200 acres, and were worth between £40m and £50m in all, generating an income of up to £400,000 a year. However, the review had been undertaken on a farm by farm basis, and of four tenants already served with notices to quit, one had been allowed to renew the tenancy and the other three were granted an extension.

George Dunn, chief executive of the Tenant Farmers’ Association, said he was very disappointed at the council’s plans. “It’s a great shame – it is a major agricultural county and we still maintain the best way to manage this resource is to retain it and look at the development value for the long term.”

However, Mr Maddock said he had to look at the return on capital from the farms, and the number of people who were benefiting from that. “The majority of tenants have expressed interest in purchasing some or all of their holdings, and we are in talks with the Crown Estate. There is an extremely good chance that the vast majority of the county farms will remain as farms.” He also announced 1500 redundancies within the authority, and the shelving of plans for a new school in Yeovil.

In a bid to spark economic growth, Mr Maddock revealed a freezing of council tax for the next year, and a new initiative to use council-owned business space to boost the local economy. A private company would operate around 70 industrial units offering support to new firms, including some start-up costs, business advice and mentoring. “We are committed to make Somerset as business friendly as we possibly can.”