Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Via Video Conference

Contact: Liz Hornby 

Items
No. Item

1.

Chairman's welcome

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

 

Will Dallimore

Neil Jackson

Rt. Hon. Joy Morrissey MP

Alex Shephard

 

Cllr P Birchley

Cllr R Carington

Cllr L Clarke OBE

Cllr A Collingwood

Cllr C Jones

Cllr P Strachan

Cllr A Wheelhouse

Cllr A Wood

3.

Rural Interests Present

Minutes:

 

William Barnes (Joy Morrissey MP’s office)

Phillippa Batting (Bucks Business First)

Vicky Beckwith

John Bloomer (NFU)

Geoffrey Copas (Copas Farms)

Brittany Cunnane (Emma Reynolds MP’s office)

Makyla Devlin (Bucks Council)

Philip Emmett (Farmer)

Mark Gardiner

Andrew Garth (CPRE Bucks)

Deirdre Hansen (Clerk, Bradenham Parish Council)

Ted Howard-Jones (Cholsey Grange Farm)

Charles Hussey (Hambleden Parish Council & Chilterns Conversation Board)

Liz Johncock (Chepping Wycombe Parish Council)

Simon Kearey (NHS Bucks)

Elaine King (CEO, Chilterns National Landscape)

David Kuttner (TVP)

Rt. Hon. Laura Kyrke-Smith MP

Will Lacey (Lacey’s Farm)

Hayden Langford (NFU)

Tom Morrison

Alex Nelms (Kensham Farm & NFU)

Nicole Oyett (Berkshire College of Agriculture)

Rt. Hon. Greg Smith MP

Matt Thompson (Chilterns Conservation Board/Chilterns National Landscape)

Sue Wagner (Wooburn & Bourne End Parish Council)

John Whitby

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 197 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Rural Forum held on 21 March 2024.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2024 were agreed as a true record.

5.

Information Items

·      National Farmers Union (NFU)

·      Chilterns National Landscape (formerly AONB)

·      Berkshire College of Agriculture

Minutes:

National Farmers Union (NFU)

 

Alex Nelms believed that both farmers and Cllrs were concerned over the upcoming budget and what changes might mean to farming and farmers in general as well as to farming tenants, whether it be an agricultural budget with funding for schemes such as the Environment Lands Management Scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) which every farmers was supposed to be able to apply for and which was meant to be simple and accessible. However, the guidance now runs to 700 pages and therefore, in order to get advice, this came at a cost which farmers could ill afford at this time.

 

Due to an outbreak of Blue Tongue in Hertfordshire currently all livestock in the county was under ‘lockdown’ as a precaution which therefore meant restrictions on moving livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats or any other ruminants as they all fell under the regulations. It was noted that Blue Tongue was not transmissible by humans and therefore did not pose a risk to human health.

 

The weather, particularly all the recent rain, now meant that animals are having to be housed inside which, in turn, led to an increased cost of feeding those animals.

 

Rural Crime: Alex explained that records had been broken again as there had been many instances of joyriding recently which caused damage to crops due to wheel and ‘doughnut’ markings on the land. This problem was particularly prevalent in the south of the county.

 

Alex reported that the NFU had hosted Emma Reynolds MP recently and introduced her to several farms and farmers giving her a chance to meet and talk to her rural constituents. Alex believed that it was good to engage with the Bucks politicians both here at the Rural Forum and in Parliament.

 

Hayden Langford updated the Forum on the Blue Tongue outbreak and explained that the NFU had received an email the day before the Forum notifying of an outbreak at a farm in South Windsor.

 

With the recently General Election, the NFU met with 39 of the Buckinghamshire parliamentary candidates and manged to get food security on their manifestos for the first time in history.

 

A presentation was given online to 420,000 students giving them information about farming and trying to ensure the next generation thinks about where their food comes from which is not just places such as Sainsbury’s!

 

The NFU had appeared around 4,800 times a month in the press, be it local or national press. They had also undertaken 65 lobbying meetings over the past year.

 

In terms of policy wins, the NFU had managed to get HMRC to reverse their decision on double cab status which was now saving people money. After 10 years of lobbying, fair and transparent contracts for the UK Dairy industry had been achieved. The Farm Recovery Fund was now accessing 10,000 farmers.

 

Clarkson’s Law had now come into effect meaning that red tape had been eased for planning permission to make it easier to convert unused agricultural  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Presentation and Report pdf icon PDF 120 KB

·      George Dunn, CEO, Tenant Farmers Association (presentation)

·      Report from John Grossart, Agricultural Estate Portfolio Lead, Bucks Council (attached)

Minutes:

Forum members noted the report by John Grossart, Bucks Council’s Agricultural Estate Portfolio Lead which had been included in the agenda pack.

 

George Dunn, CEO of the Tenant Farmer’s Association (TFA) explained that he had been in the role for the past 20 years and had previously been an economist with the Ministry of Agriculture and had also spent time with the Country Land and Business Association. He was also involved in a number of outside TFA activities and used to be a trustee for the Farming Community Network which was now known as Farm Crisis Network which he also chaired for 5 years.

The TFA was formed in 1981 by a group of tenant farmers who felt that existing organisations representing the industry were not adequately representing the needs and interested of the tenanted sector. Historically, at the beginning of the 20th century, almost 90% of farmland was farmed by tenants but by the time the TFA was formed, this number had dropped to 30% countrywide. The TFA’s aims, when they were formed, were to be an advocate on behalf of the system, combining those who were asset rich but poor in terms of entrepreneurial flair with those who had entrepreneurial drive but lacked available assets. It was also the aim to professionalise the sector. Originally, advice the tenant would receive would be from the landowners agent, which would, obviously be given with the landowners interests at heart, so the aim of the TFA was to help with issues such as rent and security, tenure and repairs etc. Objectives of the TFA had developed over the years and they now provided a service that would be bespoke to that particular tenant, e.g.:

·           Advice on repairs issues

·           Advice on liability for fixed equipment for things like slurry storage

·           Rent review discussions

·           Helping with a tenant who had gone to expert determination in respect of a dispute

·           Helping someone with a tenancy application to the National Trust

Another facet was called ‘supporting all the time’ which was the lobbying part of the organisation. Lobbying took part at all levels of government. For instance, recently George had met with No.10 DEFRA officials and special advisors and would shortly be meeting with the Farming Minister along with the Chairman of the FFR Select Committee. The TFA also provided pastoral care. Mental health issues were a big priority and support was given to tenant farmers who experienced mental health issues. The TFA took their responsibilities in relation to mental health very seriously and support members as much as they were able.

The cost of being a member of the TFA was £249 per year for a new member and renewals cost £25 per year. They also had a ‘Friend of TFA’ scheme which came at a cost of £85 per year and students were also encouraged to join at a cost of £10 per year.

George Dunn explained that there were two types of tenancy the first of which was the Agricultural  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Rural Farm Tour 2024 Feedback

Minutes:

Liz Hornby reported that the trip to Waddesdon Farm was successful, despite numbers being lower than initially expected due to the General Election which was to be held shortly after the visit.

 

The tour was very informative and the food, provided by the NFU and other farmers, was excellent as ever.

 

Next year’s tour has already been arranged, although date to be confirmed, and will be at Copas Farms in the south of the county.

 

Andrew Garth requested that, for future tours, a crib sheet be provided summarising the issues that the relevant farm faces as there was lots to take in and difficult to write things down when travelling on the back of a tractor.

 

Andrew also suggested a list of Farm shops within Bucks which can be disseminated down to Councillors and members of the Rural Forum. Information such as this would help spread the word to residents too because it would get people talking about where our food comes from.

 

8.

Impact of the NPPF on Agriculture and Farmers

Discussion in the impact of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on agriculture and farmers.

Minutes:

The Chairman explained that he wished to have a discussion with Forum members in relation to the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) due to the number of planning changes and, as a Council, feedback was being sought from residents. He explained that he had heard a number of accounts from farmers who were commenting that there were other issues affecting the rural community. However, there was not a lot of time left at this stage but comments from the rural community was being sought to then pass on. The Chairman the invited comments and questions from forum members.

 

Councillor Alan Turner, in his capacity as Chairman of the Strategic Sites Committee, commented that, at this stage, it was unknown what changes would be forthcoming and that there had been a brief consultation by the current government on the proposed changes. However, it was known that the government wished that the build rate for housing be increased across the county. In previous years, each separate District Council had operated under their own Local Plan, working out where it was that housing could be built in their areas and what areas needed to be protected from housing and it appeared that the plan was to move away from plan-based development. Recently two applications had come before the Committee which, under the Local Plan, were refused but with the proposed changes to the NPPF there would be no option but to approve them. Cllr Turner was unsure whether residents realised the full impact this change would have in Buckinghamshire.

 

Alex Nelms commented that there had been much speculation in the press around compulsory purchase (such as had been done to enable HS2 to be built) to enable housing to be built on what is now farmland which was very concerning for farmers whether they were owner occupiers or tenants. He voiced concern in relation to this issue, particularly in relation to the price an acre of land was worth, anything from £10,000 and acre to £1,000,000 an acre and believed this uplift was unreal. Depriving someone of their livelihood to make a profit was morally reprehensible.

 

Geoffrey Copas commented that when places were compulsory purchased to build Milton Keynes, landowners were offered three times the agricultural value and it would help if the current government would consider similar. If there was a bonus for the farmer and something similar for tenants, it would help.  He believed that the figures of 240,000 more homes in Buckinghamshire was interesting but commented that he did not want Buckinghamshire to be concreted over and for the Green Belt and AONB to remain as countryside. One of the downsides of being in the AONB was that permitted development rights were taken away and therefore if a farmer wished to convert a farm building into living space, planning permission was very rare. Geoffrey also commented about the not being able to build within a certain distance of Ashridge due to Stage Beetle and Beech trees. He commented that this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Any Other Business (by prior notification to the Chairman)

Minutes:

Alex Nelms thanked Liz Hornby for the letter she sent on behalf of the Rural Forum members following the death of his grandfather in July. Bryan was a founding member of the Rural Forum and would often tune into the meeting from his study and then tell Alex what a good – or bad – job he had done in relaying the NFU update! Alex stated that Bryan was very proud of the Rural Forum and the part he played in it.

10.

Date of next meeting

Thursday 6 March 2025 at 5.00pm.

Minutes:

Thursday 6 March 2025 at 5.00pm.