MoD purchase will destroy farms
16 February 2001
MoD purchase will ‘destroy farms’
By Jeremy Hunt
A CUMBRIAN farmer will lose grazing for his entire sheep flock if the Ministry of Defence succeeds in buying nearby land for shooting practice.
Ernest Harker says he will not be able to run a hill flock without access to moor rights on fells used by the MoD for live ammunition exercises.
The compulsorily purchase of more than 4050ha (10,000 acres) of fell land will “wipe out the flock and devastate our family and our farm, he said.
Mr Harker is one of 68 farmers who have grazing rights for a total of 13,700 hill sheep on the vast area of moorland around Murton and Hilton fell.
The MoD has used the moor for the last 24 years has done so under a firing licence agreement which ran out last December.
The farmers say the MoD has not responded to their requests to renegotiate the agreement and has instead embarked on compulsory purchase of the land.
A public inquiry must be held for the MoD to acquire land by compulsory purchase in peacetime. But the farmers fear fighting the case will be expensive.
“We do not have the funds to meet the legal fees that will be involved and we have been told that we have virtually no chance of winning,” said Mr Harker.
The MoD said that it wanted to undertake a study on the impact of the removal of grazing rights and help produce a formula for compensation.
A statement said: “If a farm did become unviable the MoD would comply with the statutory valuations procedures relating to the case.”