A tenant farmer is facing eviction from a farm estate owned by Herefordshire County Council, and has now demanded an explanation after the council previously agreed that he could stay.
Steve Clayton, a farm tenant on the Herefordshire County Council estate, has written to the Leader of Herefordshire Council to seek an explanation as to why he is being evicted from his farm despite the promises made by the Council Leader.
Mr Clayton previously wanted to buy the land he has rented for 14 years, but he was rejected after councillors said the council wishes to sell its tenant farms to fund 'struggling services.'
Mr Clayton said he is 'devastated' to leave.
Tenant Farmers' Association (TFA) Chief Executive George Dunn said the matter is a "clear case" of an officeholder within the Council "saying one thing but doing another".
“Council Leader Tony Johnson promised all of the tenants on the Herefordshire County Council estate that they would not lose their homes or livelihoods in the process of the Council selling its farms’ estate but sadly that is exactly what is happening to Mr Clayton and other tenants on the estate.
“To add insult to injury, the Council is taking an overly legalistic approach to Mr Clayton’s end of tenancy claim for compensation which has prevented him from being able to seek alternative accommodation.
“In the wake of serving notices to quit on some of its farm tenants, the Council promised that it would do everything possible to assist tenants but again the way in which it is dealing with Mr Clayton’s end of tenancy claim demonstrates that those promises were merely empty words,” said Mr Dunn.
“There is a lot to do before Mr Clayton will be required to leave his farm at the end of September and he is unable to move on unless the Council settles his legitimate claim for compensation and deals with the fundamental issue of why he is being evicted despite the assurances he has received to the contrary,” said Mr Dunn.
