What have Labour ever done for farming?

Kate Jardine, Partner in our Planning team recently wrote an article for South East Farmer.

It sounds like a line from a Monty Python film, but in all seriousness, along with changes to the permitted development regime put in place before the general election, Labour have so far made a few small but significant steps towards building a more sustainable farming system in this country.

Changes to planning for on-shore wind farms

Firstly, they have removed probably one of the most restrictive planning policies of the last decade, a move which will facilitate true and full-scale diversification on agricultural land.  The removal of the two controversial planning policy requirements for on-shore wind farm proposals, the first of which required any on-shore wind farm to be built in a suitable location ‘as set out in the development plan’ and which had the support of the local community, will enable farmland to be put forward for on-shore proposals which might not necessarily garner full community support but which does nonetheless meet all the policy (and industry) requirements.

The second restriction was that all decisions, regardless of the size of the proposed wind farm, were to be made by the Local Planning Authority (rather than the Secretary of State).  Where the proposal was on the larger side, this inevitably led to resource and knowledge issues in already struggling LPAs, and left a bit of a sour taste between the SoS and LPAs.

Whilst the Conservative government did update policy last September to allow locations suitable for new wind farms to be identified in a number of ways (rather than just by reference to the local development plan), it is the removal by the current government of the restrictions in their entirety which will release land to be developed for on-shore wind farms across the country.

Like them or loath them, wind turbines are a part of the full range of renewable sources which will take this country to a self-sustainable position as far as energy production is concerned.  Alongside off-shore wind, hydro and solar, on-shore wind will also provide much needed financial support and stability for our farmers to enable them to keep farming and do what they do best –  the production of food.

Making diversification easier

Which leads me onto the next hot topic… a key message which became clear over the last few years is that home-grown food and farming is no longer a sustainable effort – our farmers are at breaking point and being subjected to expensive tariffs and policy requirements, which go way beyond the slight remedies that the planning regime can offer, but it is a step in the right direction in enabling and facilitating proper (and financially beneficial) diversification of agricultural land which fits in with today’s society.  In fact, diversification should be seen as reverting back to a more traditional way of farming which spreads the risk across a range of products and practices.

Labour have also made it clear that they will encourage house-building strategies which place more value on small and medium sized sites, meaning that farmers who need to dispose of some of their land in order to keep the farm running, will not be beholden to the national house-builders whose models only fit the large scale sites.  Again, through diversification and by being able to capture the profit available in the rural housing market, farmers can provide a small number of properties (perhaps with agricultural occupancy conditions, perhaps without) which don’t necessarily restrict their ability to continue to produce the home-grown food that the country so desperately needs.

The proposed “green-to-grey” policies are unlikely to affect the majority of farmland but there may be some pockets of “grey” land which sit within greenfield agricultural locations which could benefit from the review of restricted sites available for development.

Whilst a flexible planning system is helpful, the biggest help that any government can offer to farmers is financial, be that in the form of grants, reduction in tariffs, reduction in regulatory requirements, or environmental management schemes.

The NFU itself stated that farming needs investment in infrastructure and flexibility in planning: “..our ability to provide affordable, climate-friendly and high-welfare food will be critical for families across the country…”

Government can lead the horse to water; it can even provide the bucket, but we must all play our part in supporting local farmers.