D-day has been set for anxious farmers awaiting the verdict on plans to sell off Staffordshire’s publicly-owned farms, it has been revealed.
A decision will be made on whether all Staffordshire County Council’s tenant farms are to be axed at a cabinet meeting on March 19. Farmers have been campaigning for the last six months to stop the council’s proposals to sell all 121 tenant farms. Consultations have taken place and the findings will be considered by the cabinet for a final ruling.
The public consultation, which ended in December, attracted more than 300 responses from residents opposing the plans.
Farmers and members of the public wrote to the council’s chief executive, individual councillors and MPs, calling for the future of the farms to be safeguarded.
Council staff have sifted through all the responses which bosses have promised to take into account.
Deputy leader Rob Simpson revealed the date for a decision after visiting some of the tenants’ farms with colleagues yesterday.
Councillors have also visited a number of other farms as part of their research into the issue.
The county council’s proposal to sell all its farms, including 7,000 acres of land, would bring in £113million for the cash-strapped authority and involve keeping just 2,000 acres of land with development potential.
Following opposition to the scheme, it was agreed to consult on an alternative option of keeping up to 60 of the farms. The council has said it has also not ruled out selling off all but 87 farms.
The National Farmers Union’s regional spokesman Oliver Cartwright said it was vital the farms continued,to safeguard livelihoods.
He said the farms generate around £450,000 a year for the authority’s coffers.
“The farms are such a valuable asset to the council, rural community and economy, and they also help younger people without large amounts of money get into the industry,” he said.
“To lose them would be a huge blow to Staffordshire’s rural community and the area’s farming industry.”
By Wyn Matthews
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