Powys council plans £5m secret sale of dairy farm

A dairy farming council tenant fears losing his farm amid reports Powys council is planning a £5m sale behind closed doors.

Andrew Thomas, 58, took over the tenancy at Gwyn’s Barn, an 88ha dairy farm in Leighton, near Welshpool, in 2001 and has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in the business to make it a recognised, viable dairy unit.

He currently farms 300 Holstein-Friesian milking cows and rears his own replacements, and he has won a number of awards for his achievements, including the National Milk Records’ best medium-sized dairy farm in Montgomeryshire.

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However, Mr Thomas was stunned to learn from a friend that Powys County Council is planning to sell the farm to a private investor without informing him.

“I have put my heart and soul into creating a successful dairy farm from nothing. I started with 30 cows and every year we have just carried on growing,” said Mr Thomas.

“The thought of losing this farm makes me feel incredibly anxious. I had verbally been given the tenancy until I am 70. I have got another four years and then eight years after that on a farm business tenancy.

“I certainly have no plans to retire. I have been growing and investing in the farm.”

Uncertain future

Mr Thomas said his youngest daughter started her agriculture and business degree at Harper Adams University last week and she wonders whether the family will still have a farm when she finishes studying.

Welshpool-based waste and recycling firm Potters, a council contractor, is understood to have bid £5m for the farm, according to a report on the Nation.Cymru website.

Gwyn’s Barn Farm, Leighton, Powys © Andrew Thomas

Mr Thomas said he was disturbed by false reports that he was looking to retire, had been in full negotiations with the council and needed money spending on the farm to comply with nitrate vulnerable zone regulations.

“I have never expressed an intention to retire to anyone. No one from Powys County Council has contacted me yet – despite the fact that this has sparked an inter-party political row in the cabinet,” he added.

“I have spent my own money and maxed out on the latest Farming Connect grants to upgrade slurry infrastructure. I have put a slurry separator in, covered a muck store and put roofs over ‘dirty’ [slurry] yards.”  

Sam Evans, an independent livestock and dairy consultant, criticised Powys council for attempting to sell the farm behind Mr Thomas’s back and without putting it out to competitive tender.

“If the council is willing to sell farms without anyone knowing, or without giving existing tenants the opportunity to buy them, this could set a dangerous precedent,” he said.

“Any venture capital company looking at carbon credits could just come in, buy a farm and plant trees. This would have a huge impact on the farming community.”

Council response

The Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet held a private meeting on 19 September when councillors considered a report marked “not for publication” and the proposed deal was approved in principle.

The Welsh Conservatives have urged the council to publish the full facts of the deal and reconsider its decision “in an open and transparent manner”.

A Powys County Council spokesman said: “Cabinet considered a confidential report and recommendations from the County Farms Working Group and heard from the chair and members of the group regarding the sale of a property. 

“Cabinet resolved to approve the recommendations in the report. We cannot make any further comment as the report was confidential.”

According to the council’s website, the Powys County Farms Estate has 138 holdings and 4,330ha of land, and is the largest of its kind in Wales and the fifth largest in the UK.