Future of UK soft fruit production hangs in the balance
Letter to the Grower magazine, 4 January 2005
Sir, the future of UK soft fruit production hangs in the balance thanks to a planning enforcement order issued by a Surrey borough council. Early next February, the Planning Inspectorate will begin hearing an appeal by Hall Hunter Partnership against the order, which requires the removal of the polytunnels it uses to protect its crops, and the temporary accommodation for its seasonal workers, at Tuesley Farm near Godalming, Surrey.
Soft fruit farmers have been very successful over the past few years, and this is entirely due to the use of polytunnels to protect crops and extend the growing season. Polytunnels are essential if UK growers are to continue to increase, or even to maintain their share of the market compared with imported fruit.
Many people argue that they are a visual assault on the landscape, and it doesn’t help the image of our industry to cover hundreds of acres with them. A more sensitive and effective policy, surely, is to work with local authorities and residents to find arrangements that meet the concerns of all parties.
Hall Hunter Partnership, under the leadership of Harry Hall, has taken this approach from the start of operations at Tuesley Farm in 2003. Harry has worked enthusiastically with both planners and local residents and community groups. He has done this with support from many sectors of the industry including the NFU, the National Summer Fruits Association, retailers and many farmers and growers.
A key element is a strategic farm plan that encompasses significant environmental schemes designed by FWAG and supported by local wildlife groups. The proposals include over ten kilometres of indigenous hedging, beetle banks and conservation schemes, plus the inclusion of copses and woodland areas. Despite all this, the views of a number of activists have prevailed over common sense and good of the wider community, forcing the council to take action.
Against this background, Hall Hunter Partnership is determined to win the appeal. A QC has been engaged, along with a consultants and experts in all areas relevant to the appeal. The partnership has the backing of the NFU at national level and it is committed to getting an outcome that will benefit all of us and secure a future for our industry.
The only satisfactory conclusion will be for the inspector to find that, under current legislation, planning consent is not required. Any other result will impose heavy burdens on the UK’s soft fruit growers because the inspector’s decision, although not legally binding, will set a precedent that will almost certainly be taken up by planning officials around the country.
Consequently, growers could find themselves investing significant amounts of time, effort and capital in applying for and complying with planning consents. Their applications will be pored over by anxious neighbours, well meaning idealists and others whose motives may not be so pure, and their objections could cause unacceptable delays.
However, this saga will not come to an end even if the appeal is won. Unless the industry takes a grip there is a strong likelihood that, sooner or later, legislation will be brought in to put temporary agricultural structures under the umbrella of planning regulations.
This can be avoided if the industry promotes farming practices that meet the concerns of the wider community, and to achieve this goal Hall Hunter Partnership is working with the NFU to build on the work of South Herefordshire growers, who have developed a ‘code of practice’ covering polytunnels and temporary accommodation facilities.
As growers, we must deal carefully with the environment and the new generation of people who use the countryside as an idyllic dormitory. Farming has changed considerably over the past decade, but the population that surrounds us has changed even more. We need to recognise this and come to terms with our neighbours.
Yours faithfully,
Mark A Hall
