HC FARMS

[twowheelsgood]

Just added up how much the Council have given Balfour Beatty over a year (Nov 2014 to Nov 2015). The figure obtained from the Council's expenditure records is £38,845,082.50p. I thought the contract for 10 years was worth £200 million, so if the Council pay out at this rate it will have been spent in 5-6 years. The council tax they collect from us brings in £83,963,000 (2015/2016) so no wonder they are flogging everything off as quick as they can.

 

Staggering - I wonder how many Councillors are aware of or want to know this? The contract is £20m a year - the additional £18.5m is one years worth of 'extras' - which is how contractors make their profit. Go in at cost, pile on the extras. This is how we end up in a £40m court case with Amey - make no mistake, the same thing will happen again with BB, assuming Herefordshire hasn't gone bust before then.

[Denise Lloyd]

This is off topic but not all payments to BB go through the revenue account road resurfacing goes through the capital account and is written off over 34 years so you can add on a fair bit more for the amount paid to BB.

 

I am really surprised nobody has picked up on my comment on the subsidies paid to HC

[megilleland]

This is off topic but not all payments to BB go through the revenue account road resurfacing goes through the capital account and is written off over 34 years so you can add on a fair bit more for the amount paid to BB.

 

I am really surprised nobody has picked up on my comment on the subsidies paid to HC

 

I have had a look at the subsidies paid to farms and businesses in Herefordshire and there is a wealth of information in the data supplied by farmsubsidy.org, although it is hidden in many of the years from 1999 to 2013

 

There are two types of payment the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) finances direct payments to farmers and measures to regulate agricultural markets such as intervention and export refunds, while the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) finances the rural development programmes of the Member States.

 

Regarding Herefordshire Council the subsidy figures are very confusing.

 

It states that:

 

Since 1999 HEREFORDSHIRE COUNCIL has received €23,900 in payments from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund

 

and

 

Since 1999 HEREFORDSHIRE COUNCIL has received €3,867,391 in payments from the European Union .

 

Details of payments

Year Scheme                                                                        Total

2013 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development       â‚¬762,972

2012 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development    â‚¬3,104,419

 

Total: €3,867,391

 

While here it states:

 

Since 1999 Herefordshire Council has received €5,762,981 in payments from the European Union .

 

Details of payments

Year Scheme                                                                         Total

2011 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development     â‚¬3,680,186

2010 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development     â‚¬2,082,552

2009 Rural development programmes                                             â‚¬242

 

Total: €5,762,981

 

So are they saying that between 2009 and 2013 HC have received €9,630,372 and have HC received subsidies for 2014 & 2015?

 

However when you do a search for Hereford you get 401 pages to sift through - some pages blank

 

When you do a search for Herefordshire you get 764 pages to sift through

 

When you do a search for Herefordshire Council you get 2 pages to sift through

 

The complete picture is complex with many EU countries withholding payment information and not naming beneficiaries and there is even a millionaires list of recipients. Topping the list of biggest recipients of the CAP’s direct payments is Gesba, the state-owned banana company of the Portuguese island of Madeira (€6.6 million) followed by tropical fruit grower SA Bois Debout in Guadeloupe (€4.3 million) and the National Trust, a British charity with large landholdings (€4.2 million).

 

The Queen has received £7million in farming subsidies funded by taxpayers over the past ten years (2002 to 2012) and the Duke of Westminster – one of Britain’s richest men – has been given around £6million. They are among a roll call of millionaire land owners who have accepted bonanza payouts from Brussels. Obviously these people are not benefit tested.

 

With the EU accounts never audited the money paid to recipients is almost untraceable.

[Denise Lloyd]

You are an absolute star Meg..... The payments might not relate to the smallholdings but I rather suspect they do.  This makes it even more desparate that HC should decide to sell off the farms they would not get this return on any other asset.

 

 

RIP DAVID BOWIE Sad day

[Denise Lloyd]

Some things are just not going to lie down and go to sleep and very thankfully some people have good memories

 

Pembrokeshire Could Teach Herefordshire a Thing or Two About County Farms Management

TFA Chief Executive George Dunn

The Tenant Farmers Association has commended Pembrokeshire County Council for producing a forward looking program for its County Farms Estates.

Following a review of its County Farms estate Pembrokeshire has come forward with a seven point plan which will allow the estate to make a significant contribution to the Pembrokeshire agricultural sector whilst maximising revenue to the local authority both through income generation and capital receipts.

TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said “In all of our dealings with local authorities we encourage them to take a sound asset management approach to maximise opportunity both for individuals to be farmers in their own account and in the harvesting of value for wider use within the local authority. It seems to me that in its review Pembrokeshire has struck the right balance here. Our only concern is the halving of the annual budget for ongoing management of the estate which may have consequences into the long termâ€.

“Pembrokeshire’s decision is in stark contrast to the terrible decision taken by Herefordshire County Council just a few weeks before. Against all of the advice to the Cabinet including by its own Overview and Scrutiny committee, Herefordshire Council has decided to divest itself of its estate doing huge damage to the agricultural sector in Herefordshire and without due regard to obtaining best value for Council tax payers,†said Mr Dunn.

“It’s a real shame that some of the expertise in Pembrokeshire has not transferred across Offa’s Dyke into Herefordshire which is in my view guilty of gross mismanagement. For example, a barn ripe for development near Ledbury which has had planning permission in place for some time, has spent the last five years languishing under scaffolding and tarpaulins going nowhere. Council tax payers are being denied the value that could be obtained from such a development and other potential developments across the Herefordshire estate,†said Mr Dunn.

“Even at this late stage, we would encourage the Cabinet of Herefordshire County Council to learn lessons from what Pembrokeshire has been able to achieve so that we might see better outcomes both for the agricultural community within Herefordshire and its Council tax payers,†said Mr Dunn.

end 
Ref: MR03 Date: 12 January 2016

Notes for Editors: 
For further information contact George Dunn on 07721 998961 or TFA Communications and Events Co-ordinator Jenna Kirkpatrick on 0118 930 6130.

High resolution copies of the photographs included are available on request.

 

 

[Denise Lloyd]

Scaffolding and tarpaulins for 5 years just how much has that cost and a planning application that has now lapsed

[Denise Lloyd]

Looks like the Welsh Council have boobed

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjp5tj018fKAhUFcz4KHfSIBHIQqQIILjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk-wales-politics-35399951&authuser=1&usg=AFQjCNHjp5th29kIfhQiEgI6AN6mOjbdMg&sig2=9s-Yu1X-4PEQ_Gf_ZRb8DAhttps://www.google.co.uk/url?

 

 

sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjp5tj018fKAhUFcz4KHfSIBHIQqQIIMDAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.itv.com%2Fnews%2Fwales%2F2016-01-26%2Fsale-of-publicly-owned-land-has-cost-welsh-taxpayers-tens-of-millions-of-pounds%2F&authuser=1&usg=AFQjCNH-jRgpU7rTzZ9PeQAX31Peebui1g&sig2=Qz4Qu_KF2ujygCG7b5rPBw

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjp5tj018fKAhUFcz4KHfSIBHIQqQIIMjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walesonline.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fscathing-report-lays-out-how-10786966&authuser=1&usg=AFQjCNE4FssRl4BUpR1KyhtJkBeU4wZZ8g&sig2=x3p-DOIO6cDNUXMJC20FTQ

[Denise Lloyd]

Herefordshire Council Plans to Evict 5 Farm Families

TFA Chief Executive George Dunn

The Tenant Farmers Association has called on Herefordshire Council to shelve plans to serve Notices to Quit on five farm families on Monday 01 February.

Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet decided at its meeting in December to have a planned disposal of its farms estate but assurances were given to tenants that they would be looked after.

TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said “The Council is steamrolling ahead with no regard for the impact of its actions on farm tenants and with no clear plan. The TFA has been trying to engage with Cllr Harry Bramer, the member responsible for County Farms, but so far he has been unwilling to meet us. I last wrote to Councillor Bramer on 10 January asking for, at least, an indicative timetable for the planned disposal which has yet to be approved by the Cabinet. He has not had the courtesy of responding and left the County Council’s land agents to deliver the news about the Notices to Quit both to us and the tenant farmers affected. We need to know more about the timetable to which the Council is working, what the draft disposal plan looks like and when the council will be ready to have a meeting.â€

The TFA also accuses councillors of misleading statements and acting beyond their remit.

“At the meeting of the Council’s Cabinet in December, various assurances were given which are not being followed throughâ€, said Mr Dunn.

The Cabinet meeting minutes say that the Council Leader ‘emphasised that rumours that people would be turned out of homes was [sic] not accurate and whilst there would be some changes, it was arguably to the advantage of tenantsâ€.

“How can the service of notices to quit on these five families be advantageous to them? The Council is turning people out of their homes without any recourse and is reneging on the assurance that this would not happen,†said Mr Dunn.

“The Cabinet also said that affected tenants ‘would be supported through the process’. If kicking tenants out of their homes is being supportive, I would hate to see the Council taking a hardline!†said Mr Dunn.

The Leader of the Council said ‘it was not the case that the tenants were to lose their livelihood or suffer in some way, they were protected through new ownership’.

“It is now clear that the Cabinet had no intention of allowing these tenants the option of having a new landlord, it simply wants to evict them,†said Mr Dunn.

Finally the leader said that tenants would have ‘the opportunity to make offers for their properties and the council would sell to them’.

“There is no evidence of the council engaging with tenants on purchases. If the Council continues with the decision to serve notices to quit it will have reneged on every promise given in reaching the Cabinet’s decision. This seems to the TFA as ultra vires†said Mr Dunn.

end 
Ref: MR08 Date: 29 January 2016

Notes for Editors: 
For further information contact George Dunn on 07721 998961 or the TFA Communications and Events Co-ordinator Jenna Kirkpatrick on 0118 930 6130.

[Maggie May]

Interesting that Cllr Bramer refuses to discuss this issue. If I were Mr Dunn I would make a formal complaint about this - it is not right and it is certainly not democratic. Perhaps people in the cabinet already have potential buyers lined up who only want vacant possession.

[Denise Lloyd]

 TFA Retweeted

Robert Martin â€@Ansavalley  1 hr1 hour ago

@cvfarming @Tenantfarmer1 @tenantfarmers it isn't the job of the tenant, to service the debt of the landlord if income levels fall

[Denise Lloyd]

George Dunn â€@georgewdunn  Jan 29

The despotic and dysfunctional cabinet of @HfdsCouncil strikes again. Sadly, accountability is not its strong point

[Denise Lloyd]

George Dunn â€@georgewdunn  3 hrs3 hours ago

Families facing eviction as council sells off farm holdings - News - FG Insight https://www.fginsight.com/news/families-facing-eviction-as-council-sells-off-farm-holdings-9651 â€¦

[greenknight]

Slightly off topic but I would be intrigued to find out how Herefordshire farms are split up...tenants, family owned, corporate and council run .that sort of thing.

[Denise Lloyd]

I see HT have picked up on this using the Farmers Guardian's report highlighted in post 102

[Denise Lloyd]

Condemnation of the Council's actions are coming in thick and fast

 

1 minute ago

Council challenged on 'duty of care' to tenant farmers http://www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news/council-challenged-on-duty-of-care-to-tenant-farmers/#.VrEM4EaaNCs.twitter â€¦

[Denise Lloyd]

TFA â€@tenantfarmers  13 mins13 minutes ago

Council accused of 'misleading' tenants on estate sell-off @FarmersWeekly TFA to meet with Clr Harry Bramer http://www.fwi.co.uk/business/council-accused-of-misleading-tenants-on-estate-sell-off.htm#.VrHgv9OjEmc.twitter â€¦

[Denise Lloyd]

 

Film courtesy of Hereford Visions of the meeting on 3rd December 2015 that has caused this furore that just won't go quietly away

[Denise Lloyd]

 

Close

George Dunn â€@georgewdunn  11 mins11 minutes ago

ow do notices to quit sit with doing "everything possible" to make life comfortable for FBT tenants of @HfdsCouncil!!

 

You will have to follow the link to get the true picture

 

[greenknight]

I see our Prime Minister has asked Bill Wiggins for advice on farming...Well our North Herefordshire farmers love this guy but how supportive has he been to the Herefordshire Tenant farms or is it etiquette not to get involved on a brothers patch!

[Chris Chappell]

I am totally confused, as I suspect many are.

 

The public budget consultation last year put the sale of small holdings at the top of the publics list of savings the council could make. (See council web site) No councillor demurred from that at the briefing that was held for us.

The scrutiny committee's task & finish group who only spoke to the agricultural community, decided it was a bad idea to sell the council's small holdings! I think they were overawed by the witnesses!

 

So councillors go against the public's declared views. Nothing new there then

The evidence is clear and published that the council's small holdings have not been used as they were intended.

 

Stay with me please.

 

There are at least two better land lords in the county, the Dutchy and the Church Commissionsers, both of who have much better experience, and more small holding tenants, and skills at being an agricultural landlords than Herefordshire Council.

 

Meanwhile, the public, and most councillors, are saying save SHYPP and its loss of 60% of its council funding. Save CAB and take over No1 Ledbury Road. This is where I loose the will to live!

 

I worked in agriculture for a number of years and was a union branch secretary for the NUAAW/T & GWU, for several years. I know the worth of the small holdings and that in Herefordshire a number of young, and not so young people, have not been able to get into the industry because some tenants have been given long tenancies, while you, the council tax payer, have used your money on renewing old and delapadated farm buildings. I can only assume that those involved with the council's small holdings over the last forty/ thirty years do not want young people with their new fancied ideas coming into agriculture. There is a scandal here for anyone who wants to investigate it!

 

Anyway, a few £m saved from selling small holdings to the Dutchy or Church Commisioners or to the tenants, could possibly mean giving more elsewhere in the council's budget.....SHYPP, CAB, No 1 Ledbury Road and a host of other social groups. But hey, I am a Labour supporter, a socialist, I must be wrong about all this...........!

 

I need to find a dark room and lie down!

 

I will go with the public and say sell some small holdings, kick out the tenants not pulling their wait, and support people, ex military and others, who want to enter agriculture . Support young people entering agriculture and support local charities. So what are you saying about this?

[greenknight]

......I will go with the public and say sell some small holdings, kick out the tenants not pulling their wait, and support people, ex military and others, who want to enter agriculture . Support young people entering agriculture and support local charities.

 

Agreed Chris though am I right in thinking that some of these farms lie in the path of the proposed relief road?....a decision for this must be very very soon.

[Denise Lloyd]

Chris and anybody else interested if you refer to my post 108 and follow George Dunn's link you will see  that he has transcripted some of the meeting held on 3.12.15 where Tony Johnson Leader of HC gave assurances to the tenants.   These assurances have not been adhered to.

 

One of the tenant farmers issued with an eviction notice farms in Bosbury.  Tony Johnson's patch.  

 

HC need £50m by 2018 or their masterplan will fail.  What we are seeing is disposable assets ie farms/buildings being sold and replaced by unsaleable assets such as BT/roads etc.  It will provide short term solution but it will cause long term problems.  If this was a business any accountant would be extremely concerned as to the wisom of such an action.  BT costs started at 5m but are now rising to 23m.  

 

Somewhere in this forum it states I think that No 1 Ledbury Road cannot be funded by sale of assets.

[Cloudberry]

Chris, - please don't lose the will to live, you are doing some great work!

 

However, remember that some so-called public consultations are rather biased. If I remember rightly the public were given a list of options to save money and were asked to say which they preferred. It's likely that this list was carefully chosen, and although most people would not like ANY of the options, there was little choice not to rate their preferences putting sale of farm assets at the top of the list.

 

Also bear in mind that we, the public, probably don't know all the background, and are sometimes not in a very good position to make a "preference". And no, we are not going to read umpteen poorly-explained support documents first.

 

The farms ought to make a profit, they do in other counties, so surely they should be kept as assets for the future.

 

And yes we definitely need to save 1 Ledbury Road, CAB, SHYPP, etc. because if we don't, the fallout from not having this support will be much worse for those who need these services, and much more expensive in the long run.

 

If the funding is not going to be available from central government anymore then I would support a rise in Council tax beyond that currently proposed to support thes essential services. The problem is I can't trust the current administration to use extra funding effectively in the right places.

[dippyhippy]

Only 1,979 people responded to this consultation. Of these, 37% said that they thought the tenanted farms should be sold off... so less than 740 people.

 

If the council insist that the results of this 'consultation' give them a mandate to act, then perhaps they should keep in mind that top of the list of services folks want to keep, is keeping children and young people safe. Yet in the last few months, we have had the fight to save Ledbury Road and now the battle to keep SHYPP.

 

I struggle to separate the plan to sell off all of the counties small holdings, and the SLR. To me, they are inextricably linked. I would have gone down the route that Scrutiny suggested.

 

Alas.... the recommendations from this committee were not worth the paper they were printed on. Which makes me even more certain, that the decision regarding the fate of these farms had already been made.

 

I too, have previously stated my support for an increase in council tax to enable vital services and resources to be protected. However, my faith in this conservative council to protect the vulnerable is exceptionally low. As with the government, they have no real interest in helping those with the most need in society.

[greenknight]

So now it's pig prices sitting on the floor...what is going on? Are we really over producing in pig,lamb,beef and milk?

[Denise Lloyd]

So much cheap and probably not of the same high quality food is being imported and being put on the supermarket shelves.

 

Buy British and if you can't see any ask the shop for it.

[megilleland]

Cabinet

Meeting date: 11 February 2016

Title of report: Corporate property strategy 2016 - 2020

Report by: Programme director growth

 

Recommendation(s)

THAT:

(a) the corporate property strategy 2016-2020 attached at appendix 1 be approved and used to guide the development and delivery of the property programme; and

 

(b) the acquisition of a 10 year lease of the property known as Elgar House, Holmer Road, Hereford, at an annual rent of £87k be approved.

 

A recent review of existing corporate accommodation arrangements identified that three properties currently occupied by children’s wellbeing services are no longer suitable for use as office accommodation. These properties are Bath Street (New Media Centre), nos 8 and 10 St. Owen’s Street (the wings either side of the town hall) and Moor House.

 

Asset stripping to fund new council premises and more money to be spent on ivory towers.

[Denise Lloyd]

Oh dearie me they are totally out of control.  

 

The meeting of George Dunn and Harold Bramer takes place tomorrow  - would anybody like to be a fly on the wall?

[dippyhippy]

Good lord,Megilleland.

 

So they're off again. A fool could have told them that Bath Street Media Centre wasn't for purpose.

 

It has residential neighbours, and I'm told that windows can't even be opened in case folks can overhear confidential conversations!

 

Now, after spending money revamping it.... they're upping sticks and moving!

 

Not sure what's wrong with Moor House, though?? Unless of course they've been made an offer for it??

[megilleland]

Post 117 posted in wrong place apologies! I wanted to draw attention to:

 

Revised Smallholdings Policy 2015

 

Tenants with life or retirement tenancies will be offered a ‘without prejudice’ and without obligation opportunity to discuss at a time convenient to them options for early termination of their tenancy where this would assist the delivery of their development of the estate. The council will consider each on a case by case basis.

 

 

 

So the council think a cosy chat will resolve these people's futures.