Cornwall Council advised not to sell off 4,400ha farm estate

An inquiry looking at the future of Cornwall Council’s farming estate has recommended that it should retain the land rather than sell it off.

The recommendations have brought some relief to many tenant farmers, although a final decision by the council is due to be made later in the year.

Cornwall’s county farms cover 4,370ha and include 87 holdings. Proposals to sell were first put forward by councillors last summer in an attempt to reduce debt.

See also: Bunch of five farms offers choice under 250 acres

A task and finish group was then set up by Cornwall County Council to consider the options and representatives from the group have now put their findings to the sustainable growth scrutiny committee.

Rory Gow, chairman of Cornwall Council task and finish group, told councillors on 16 June that the group had made 12 recommendations in its concluding report.

He said: “The financial performance of the estate must improve, although the size of the overall estate is to remain at approximately 10,000 acres, as it is now.”

Mr Gow also suggested that provision for affordable housing should be taken into account and that the estate has the potential to deliver more than it was currently towards the council’s wider corporate ambitions.

He added: “The findings and recommendations target the exploration in the next phase of implementation of the strategy to include the delivery of affordable housing.

“There’s scope to promote and secure around 100 acres of the site, that’s roughly 1% of the farms of state, for this purpose.”

New entrants

The council’s role in providing suitable starter farms for new entrants and enabling business progression was also discussed.

Councillor Andrew Mitchell suggested that the council should be encouraging and providing more opportunities for new entrants to get into agriculture.

He added: “I think this report fully shows that Cornwall Council is committed to maintaining the county farms estate.”

However, the inquiry did suggest that the number of dairy enterprises within the estate may be reduced or consolidated, partially due to the costs associated with having to modernise old farm buildings.

There were also calls from some councillors for county farms to be required to help deliver environmental targets, although it was pointed out that new farm tenants were already obliged to undertake carbon audits and soil testing.

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) welcomed the recommendations and called on other councils to follow its lead.

TFA farm policy adviser, Lynette Steel, said: “This will provide much-needed reassurance to tenant farmers.

“We now need to see the council engage with its tenants to work hand in glove on delivering a well-thought-out future direction for the county’s estate.

“We are also pleased that the group recommends nature recovery and environmental schemes, wherever possible.

“These should continue to be delivered through tenant farmers rather than taking land out of the tenanted sector.”