Council-owned farms play a valuable contribution in supporting food production and enabling young entrants into farming across Wales.
Despite the fantastic contribution of Council-owned farms, we continue to see Councils up and down Wales selling farms that risks reducing our food security and traditional farming practices.
In the Senedd today, the Welsh Conservatives voted for the Welsh Government to impose a moratorium on the sale of Council-owned farms owned by local authorities in Wales.
Commenting at the end of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, James Evans MS, said:
“Council farms are essential in providing an entry into the industry for young farmers and the important role council farms play in both food production and food security cannot be downplayed.
“Wales’ food security and traditional farming practices are being undermined up and down Wales as we see local Councils selling farms, also contributing to the decline in young farmers entering the profession.
“Today, the Welsh Conservatives stood up for our farmers and voted to impose a moratorium on the sale of Council Farms owned by local authorities in Wales.”
Also commenting, NFU Cymru’s tenants’ spokesperson, Elwyn Evans, said:
“The Council farm system is a valuable means for young people and new entrants to the sector to gain a foothold in the agricultural industry, and as such they are an important national asset.
“Whilst we understand the considerable financial pressures that local authorities are under, we believe that selling off the council farm estate in order to meet short term financial needs is misguided. Not only do council farms offer a valuable means for individuals starting out in farming to get into the sector, they make an important contribution to the rural economy, and are an on-going revenue stream for local authorities.
“They are therefore an asset which should be prized and retained.”
The motion debated today read as follows:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Recognises the valuable contribution that council-owned farms play in supporting food production and enabling young entrants into farming.
2. Regrets that selling council-owned farms risks reducing Wales’s food security and traditional farming practices, causing a shifting towards less sustainable practices.
3. Calls on the Welsh Government to impose a moratorium on the sale of council-owned farms owned by local authorities in Wales.
