Devon council snubs tenant farmers

The Tenant Farmers Association has branded the actions of the County Farms Committee of Devon County Council as shameful, in not allowing tenant farmers on the estate to express their concerns regarding the management of the Devon County Council farms estate at a recent meeting of the Committee.

TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn, who attended the meeting at County Hall in Exeter and had been asked by the local tenants’ association to present its case to the committee said, "The land agent employed by the County Council, under contract from NPS South West Ltd, is consistently informing tenants of the estate that if they have any problems with the way the estate is being managed, they must take these up with the Committee directly. However, if the Committee is not prepared to listen to the tenants, where can their voice be heard?".

"The Committee was given a very fair warning; there was an item on the formal meeting agenda providing the opportunity for the tenants’ concerns to be considered. The detail of the concerns had been sent out in advance to the Committee Chairman, Councillor Jerry Brook and the land agent. Instead of listening to the tenants’ concerns, the Committee passed a hastily prepared motion which stated that it was premature to hear from the tenants, given that there had been a full review of the estate in the previous year," said Mr Dunn.

"The tenants were not requesting another review. They simply wanted to articulate concerns on how the conclusions from the last review were being implemented by the land agent. The tenants support the conclusions of the last review but they do not believe that they are being put into practice correctly," said Mr Dunn.

"In responding to my protests after the meeting, Councillor Brook said that he had been concerned about the potential for confidential information relating to individual circumstances of tenants being discussed in an open meeting. I suggested that was a lame excuse for denying the opportunity for the tenants to be heard," said Mr Dunn.

In view of the inability of the tenants to have their concerns aired, the TFA is issuing a copy of the full statement that would have been made on the tenants’ behalf with this media release.

"It was also of concern that a number of tenants had made applications for extensions to their tenancies and rather than having the opportunity of addressing the committee directly were kept waiting for hours outside the meeting room where decisions about their futures were made behind closed doors. When talking about individual livelihoods, homes and families I would have expected the members of the County Farms Committee to want to involve those most affected - the tenants themselves," said Mr Dunn.