The Tenant Farmers Association is calling on Herefordshire Council to rescind Notices to Quit served on fifteen farm families.
In December last year Herefordshire Council decided to dispose of all forty-five of its County farms and its Cabinet meets on Thursday (14 April) to decide its disposal plan.
TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said: "The TFA was bitterly disappointed that the Council decided to sell its estate, despite the Council’s own internal advice to the contrary.
"However, what is unforgivable is the way in which it has broken the promises made to tenant farmers on its estate about how they should expect to be treated.
"Those assurances were given by Council Leader, Councillor Anthony Johnson."
"At the Cabinet meeting on 03 December, Councillor Johnson told tenants that they would not be kicked out of their homes and businesses but this is exactly what is happening to tenants on Farm Business Tenancies.
"All tenants with a tenancy expiry date in 2017 or earlier have now received Notices to Quit their farms.
"Councillor Johnson went on to say that the estate’s tenants would be advantaged by a change of ownership for the estate.
"I cannot see how tenants who have been served Notices to Quit have been anything but disadvantaged by the decision to sell.
"The Council has reneged on Councillor Johnson’s promise," said Mr Dunn.
Councillor Johnson was particularly angry about suggestions made by Councillors opposed to the sell-off of the farms that tenants felt ‘kicked in the teeth’.
He claimed this to be ‘wide of the mark’ repeating that tenants would not lose homes or livelihoods.
"Having received Notices to Quit, how else are tenants expected to feel other than ‘kicked in the teeth’.
Councillor Johnson said that the Council would do everything it could to make life as comfortable as possible for those affected by the sell-off and I fail to see how serving Notices to Quit falls within that objective," said Mr Dunn.
"The TFA is calling on the County Council to rescind the Notices to Quit allowing individuals occupying on Farm Business Tenancies the ability to negotiate terms with a new owner or the ability to move on if another opportunity emerges," said Mr Dunn.
