HC FARMS

[Denise Lloyd]

And on the Board are 

 

The current members of the Board are; Cllr Terry James Businessman and farmer Cllr Philip Price Farmer Cllr Brigadier Jones Retired Army Officer Cllr Philip Edwards Retired Cllr Anthony Johnson Financier

 

There is a tremendous amount on the net about Buchanan Trust and I could not work out if they come under the auspices of Council Farms.  They are listed on the HC Property and Asset Register

[dippyhippy]

Very interesting, Megilleland.

 

Do we know if we still own a golf course????

 

I've never heard of this before!

[Denise Lloyd]

If you are still there Dip here is the Property Asset Register which I do not think is 100% accurate

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwitstjRsNnJAhXKchQKHcpRAScQFggjMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.herefordshire.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F5029703%2Fasset_register_current.pdf&authuser=1&usg=AFQjCNEJ_hXzFF10XCvEEizNNtrng-fVEw&sig2=rbMgPr_rffHccCAxdIsvfQ

[dippyhippy]

Cheers Denise!

 

I'll take a look!

[dippyhippy]

I've clicked the link you kindly provided..... fifteen pages in total!

 

But scrolling down, I can't get past the first page!

 

Any clue what I'm doing wrong???

[Denise Lloyd]

Hello  it is fine for me I see the Buttermarket is still on there -  try again if not put in your search Property Asset Register Herefordshire Council -

[dippyhippy]

Don't worry!

 

Sorted!

 

November 2013, the date this list was compiled.....!

[Denise Lloyd]

Sorry really off topic everybody well I imagine they update it every times there is a movement otherwise how on earth can they produce valid accounts and I assume even Councils have to produce accounts

[Denise Lloyd]

 

Hereford Municipal Golf Course, Hereford (Holmer Road)

www.hereford.co.uk/info/1378/

•  

Hereford Municipal Golf Course is a golf course in Holmer Road in Hereford. Page displays Hereford Municipal Golf Course's profile, contact details and a map ...

[megilleland]

Local Authority Rural Estate Asset

Management Planning

 

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDANCE

(extract)

 

Sir Don Curry (2008) and The Future of Farming Review (2013) both highlighted the importance of retaining Rural Estates. To do so they need to be actively managed within a coherent asset management plan which can identify and target areas for income growth and to ensure that a sustainable level of capital is realised for essential statutory services at the same time.

 

In assessing how local authorities obtain “best value†in the management of their assets, it is also important to draw in to consideration the wider environmental and community benefits of actively managing Rural Estates. Examples include education outside the classroom, recreation and access, flood management, “care†farming, environmental management and renewable energy production

 

How many HC councillors have read this?

 

Future Of Farming Review Report

July 2013 

 

The loss of county council farms is concerning. Government and industry should work together to identify how much these farms contribute to entry and progression in the industry and make further recommendations at that point. In the meantime they should issue guidance that will illustrate the value of these farms and encourage Local Authorities to both retain them and manage them in innovative ways. 

 

This is obviously the main problem our councillors have - a lack of imagination.

[Denise Lloyd]

More interesting reading Meggieland you always have the ability to delve deeper into the wonders of the internet.  I expect every council in this land curse the damned internet!

[Adrian symonds]

Why is this selling of the farms to another landlord any different to what the council did to their houses a few years ago?  I am not saying if it is right or wrong, but I do notice that some people who are against this are also those who are against animals being used for food, I thought they would have been happy with farms closing if they do close.

[Denise Lloyd]

I think what is riling so many people is the way the decision was reached and the way the tenants have been treated,

 

No farms no beautiful countryside  .

[Pete Boggs]

This is obviously the main problem our councillors have - a lack of imagination.

 

Yes, other councils seem able to manage their assets and produce an income from them. This lot just flog everything off and spaff the money on vanity projects. What are they going to do when they run out of things to sell?

[Denise Lloyd]

Well desparate individuals keep selling the family silver until there is nowt left and then declare themselves bankrupt!

[Aylestone Voice]

One of the biggest problems is that the County has a relatively small population but a very high proportion of old people. As a consequence the vast majority of the income the Council receives is spent on social care. If we had a younger population the money the council gets would increase and there would be a reduced demand for social care. So sadly what assets there are have to be sold.

[Pete Boggs]

 So sadly what assets there are have to be sold.

i.e. the economics of the madhouse, expending capital to pay the bills. Like I said, what happens when the proceeds have all been spent? Is there a magic money tree the council can go to in order to pay its future outgoings?

 

It's too late now, but anyone with half a brain would have invested in, and maintained, potentially income producing assets so that they could continue to provide a revenue stream over the long term. Never going to happen with this bunch of spivs and intellectually deficient carrot crunchers in charge though.

[megilleland]

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.

[Denise Lloyd]

Meggilleland unbelievable amount of money for a year.  Thirty eight million I had to read it several times and I am speechless!

[Pete Boggs]

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.

No small sum, but I think I'm right in saying the bulk of the Council's annual budget comes in the form of a grant from central government? This is what's being cut hence the pressure to raise Council Tax and flog off the family silver. 

 

Sounds to me like the Balfour Beattie contract requires some robust management to stop costs spiralling out of control. I won't hold my breath.

[Denise Lloyd]

The Central Government Funding is to go down this year but the following years will start to rise so it is only for one year that things will be a little tight.

[greenknight]

One of the biggest problems is that the County has a relatively small population but a very high proportion of old people. As a consequence the vast majority of the income the Council receives is spent on social care. If we had a younger population the money the council gets would increase and there would be a reduced demand for social care. So sadly what assets there are have to be sold.

Additional precepts coming within Council Tax for health & social care...sadly tenant farming is becoming unsustainable. I heard today that many small farms have had their single farm payment delayed.Also milk and lamb prices continue to be unprofitable...only landowners and the cash rich profit from these times.

[Denise Lloyd]

Fortunately farmers are very resillient they have had to be   Lamb prices are not good but this year could bounce back judging by the cost of breeding ewes farmers still have faith in the sheep industry. Potatoes well they are not good people preferring no prep option - pasta cous cous rice - even runnner beans can you believe it are going out of fashion preferring French Beans less prepping.  Some SFS payments may have been delayed but the form is fairly complex but certainly not all payments were delayed.

 

Anyway this is off topic and people have got to eat and my preference is for food produced in this country so farming may change but will not go out of fashion, 

[megilleland]

The sell-off of county farms should be halted (except where county farmland can be sold for development and the proceeds used to acquire more or better land). Local authorities should be re-empowered to acquire land for rent to small-scale farmers and new entrants where there is a proven need. 

 

EQUALITY IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

A Rural Manifesto for the

Parliamentary Opposition

 

January 2016

 

And reading that the UK imports half of its food requirements. More need to keep land for farming, and not for concrete housing jungles and highways to no where.

 

FEEDING THE FUTURE

The Landworkers@ Alliance

 

November 2014

[greenknight]

How would English farmers fare if we remove ourselves from the E.U?

Does the outcome depend on the level of support from our government?

If there are farmers viewing this site I would be keen to get their viewpoint.

[Denise Lloyd]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3386272/Almost-half-UK-food-sourced-abroad.html

 

Yes I saw this earlier in the week and forgot to post it.  Back British farming it is becoming more and more important to become as self sufficient as possible in food production.  I do not know whether it is still the case but a lot of pre-prepared meals are sourced overseas.  

 

Selling this land the Council are also losing vital security when they want to borrow even more money - all in all a bad decision.  However Graham Powell has defended the decision in a local magazine and assured the readers "that the mandate to use our assets for the benefit of all residents a decision was taken to undergo a structural sale of the estate."  Note the words "all residents"

[Denise Lloyd]

HC has benefitted very nicely from farm subsidies. I asked the question on this forum a little while ago whether the tenant or HC were receiving the subsidy.  With this in mind I find it very difficult to believe they were only receiving "gross revenue receivable from the total smallholdings estate was £400k" (ex Graham Powell)  Whether they receive the subsidy for Holme Lacy College and some of the green space they own I do not know but I expect so.  Anyway whichever way you look at it it is a considerable amount of money.  This figure is for 2013 but it is a bit confusing it says for all years so perhaps Meggielland might have the time to translate it a bit.

Herefordshire Council €5,762,981

This is in Euro Dollars but it is still a nice little sum of money that if paid on the Council farms will be missed and never seen again. 

 

Site info taken from

 

 

FarmSubsidy.org: United Kingdom

farmsubsidy.openspending.org/GB/

•  
•  

These pages list farm subsidy payments made in United Kingdom as published directly by the government of United Kingdom or sourced via freedom of ...

Explore European Common Agricultural Policy farm subsidy ...

farmsubsidy.openspending.org/

•  
•  

FarmSubsidy shows how much money farm. ... The European Union spends around €59 billion a year on farm subsidies. This site tells you who receives the ...

 

If HC are receiving this subsidy it should be ploughed (excuse the pun) back into the land and farm so why has this not been spent on the maintenance? 

[megilleland]

Farmers better off outside the EU, says Owen Paterson

7 January 2016

 

(extract)

 

Britain's farmers would be better off outside the EU, former environment secretary Owen Paterson has claimed.

 

The Eurosceptic Conservative MP said Britain would be free to set its own subsidies and - crucially - its own environment policies.

 

He said the "dotty idiocy" of EU directives had made flooding on British farmland worse.

 

Britain's farmers received £2.3bn in direct subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy in 2015.

 

In addition to basic payments they also have access to £3.9bn for rural development projects between 2014 and 2020. The CAP takes up 39% of the EU's budget - about 23p a day for every EU citizen.

 

But Mr Paterson said non-EU countries subsidised their food producers and funding would not stop if Britain left the Union.

 

"We could spend the same amount of money or more if we wanted to. We could spend it in a much more targeted and efficient manner," he told Today.

 

"You could have a much more integrated environment policy directed and tailored to our own environment."

 

This would allow the government to experiment with innovative flood prevention measures, such as "paying farmers to hold water on their land, to build reservoirs".

 

Currently, farmers receive money from the CAP for keeping land in farmable condition.

 

The National Farmers Union does not officially take a position on whether Britain should leave the EU, because "we do not know the relationship the UK would have with the EU nor the conditions under which our farmers would be expected to operate if we left".

 

But in a briefing note on its website, the NFU points out the CAP is only one factor - trade tariffs and duties would also have to be taken into account in any post-exit negotiations.

 

It also stresses the importance for foreign labour to British agriculture, saying: "Any restrictions on our members' ability to recruit non-UK born workers would have a negative impact on their businesses."

[greenknight]

Thanks Megilleland for the last post which for me highlights the conflict many English farmers have regarding an EU exit particularly those that rely on foreign labour.This I believe is endorsed by the very fact that the NFU sits on the farm fence.

 

You have to take a step back for a moment and consider where the bulk of grass roots Conservative support comes from in our rural English farming communities.Deep down many may wish to have better control and Mr Patterson raises some credible points but would they really get the same level of financial support from said Tory government and at what cost after all one has to question how it is possible now to bring in food from around the globe and sell it cheaper than what Farmer Jones can offer down the road. Yes I know there are lots of corporates making money in this globalization food distribution model however my biggest fear will be that a move away from EU without an equivalent financial support package in place could mean a significant rise in food prices and although this affects all of us it will inflict serious hardship on those that cannot afford and in turn this will impact on every aspect of our lives..all of us.

[Denise Lloyd]

Greenknight because I felt this was straying off the topic and did not want to be on the receiving end of Colin's wrath I started a new topic/forum this morning entitled British food and farming.  So I do want to reply to your comment but feel obligated to support my own cause so will reply on the other topic/forum!