Agenda item
AGRICULTURAL ESTATE STRATEGY
To consider a report by the Head of Finance and Assets (copy enclosed) on the long term strategic vision for the Council’s Agricultural Estate holdings.
10.55 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.
Minutes:
A copy of a report by the Property Manager (PM) on the development of a long term strategic
plan for the Council’s Agricultural Estate holdings and the governance issues
for delivery of the strategy, had been
circulated with the papers for the meeting.
Following the Committee's consideration of a report on the Estate in
March, and in response to concerns raised at that meeting, the Agricultural
Estate Working Group had met to discuss the development of a revised long term
strategy on the basis of the Council’s legal obligation to retain the estate,
the identified purpose of the estate aligned to the delivery of the Council’s
Corporate Priorities and the Council’s Economic and Community Ambition Strategy
2013/23. A copy of the reports
considered by the Working Group had been included as an appendix to the report
presented to the Committee.
The Working Group had resolved that the
existing relocation and disposal programme should continue generating
anticipated capital receipts of £1.3m by early 2015, and this effectively
delivered the outcomes of the existing strategy. It was also agreed that the remaining
agricultural estate was far from sustainable given the levels of investment
required to bring the buildings into a reasonable state of repair (circa £1.5 -
£2Million) and, given the competing priorities for investment, the retention of
a sizeable agricultural estate was not a viable option.
It had been agreed that the only realistic
option was to continue with a prioritised and targeted disposal programme
aligned to a focus on income generation and sustainability. Options on how this could be undertaken and
information on the steps being taken to develop a new strategy for the Estate
from April 2015 onwards were contained in the report and appendix.
Officers asked that any operational issues
relating to the Estate be brought to the attention of
Members should be reported to the Property Manager in the first instance for
response and resolution.
In response to
Members' questions the Lead Member for Finance and Assets and officers advised
that whilst the Council did need capital receipts in order to deliver its
Corporate Plan no decision had been taken to sell Agricultural Estate in its
entirety. The Estate, like all other
Council structural assets, had suffered from a lack of investment over a number
of years and consequently a considerable amount of money would need to be spent
to make them viable and fit for purpose again.
Members emphasised the need to deal in a fair manner with tenants and
those affected when disposing of any assets and of the need to consider the
younger generation of farmers when devising a strategy for the Estate's
future. The importance
of retaining any land earmarked as surplus to requirement as agricultural land
when disposing of it was emphasised.
Members referred to
a report considered by the Welsh Local Government Association’s (WLGA) Rural
Forum, titled 'Welsh County Farms: Way
Forward Initiative' and officers confirmed that they intended to fully engage
with the work which would be undertaken by Mr Charles Coates on the WLGA Rural
Forum's behalf. Concerns were raised
that due to changes to the farming industry over a number of decades some of
the Authority's farms were no longer viable.
Historical tenancy agreements had also complicated matters due to some
of them being lifetime tenancies which meant that tenants on 'starter-units'
could not be compelled to move to bigger units once their business was
established, this in turn had led to a shortage of starter units. Members stressed the need to develop a long
term strategy for the Estate which would ensure its viability and make it
sustainable for the future.
RESOLVED – that subject to the above observations:-
(a)
to
note the contents of the report and endorse the short-term vision for the
County's Agricultural Estate,
(b)
that
the draft long term strategy for the
Agricultural Estate from April 2015 onwards be presented to the Committee in
early 2015 for examination, and
(c)
that
a report on the Agricultural Estate's
performance, including the number and location of holdings and capital receipts
received to date and proposed investment strategy, be presented to the
Committee in the autumn of 2014.
Supporting documents:
- Agri Estate Report 120614, item 8. PDF 88 KB
- Agri Estate Report 120614.doc - App 1, item 8. PDF 133 KB
- Agri Estate Report 120614.doc - App 2, item 8. PDF 30 KB