Rural Forum
Monday 22 June 2009
iii
`RURAL FORUM
22 JUNE 2009
22 JUNE 2009
Present: Councillors Mrs Bateson (Chairman), Kellaway, Mrs Pitteway, Mrs Wilson and Wiles
Also present: Councillor Beer, Gary Brown (Bucks CC), Elaine Cook (CCB), Geoffrey Copas (Farmer), Diane Harker (Farmers’ Market & TUFMC), Barry Hollman (Garden Centre owner), Jane Jennings (National Farmers Union), Kath Pinto (Farmers’ Market), Richard Simmonds, Chris Smith (Bucks CC), Parish Councillor Mrs Story (Sunninghill & Ascot Parish Council), Peter Thorn (BCA) and Parish Councillor Westacott (Hurley Parish Council)
Officers: Nigel Davis, Liz Hornby and Harjit Hunjan
PART I
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
- Apologies were received from Councillor Kellaway.
- Councillor Beer declared a personal interest due to him being a Director of CCB.
- The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2009 were agreed and duly signed.
- i. Jane Jennings, NFU introduced herself and wished to report on the state of farming within the South Bucks area, which included Eton, Cookham and Slough.
Dairy Farming – In the recent past dairy farmers had been affected by Foot & Mouth and Blue Tongue, and it was reported that there could be a future shortage of beef stock due to the knock-on effects of the two diseases. Dairy farmers would also be affected by nitrate vulnerable zones as it would mean that slurry would not be able to be spread at certain times of the year and that farmers had to pay up to £50,000 per year for slurry storage. It was, however, noted that there were only two milking herds within the Borough.
Sprays – New legislation had been introduced in reducing the number of available sprays. It was noted that there were different types of sprays for different types of crops although it was recognised that some crops could become immune to some sprays.
Fertiliser – Farmers would only use what was needed and it was noted that farmers only use sprays in the autumn. However, crops were beginning to die off through lack of rain at the moment, but farmers were still hoping for high prices for their crops.
Councillor Mrs Bateson asked about dog walking around crop fields in relation to spraying. Jane Jennings reported that all farmers had a buffer at the edges of their fields where they didn’t spray which was government controlled with strict guidelines.
ii. Richard Simmonds of Woodlands Farm. Mr Simmonds reported that he no longer wished to bring this before the Panel as his query had been answered prior to the meeting, but pointed out that new uses of redundant farm buildings around the Borough could possibly be a future topic at this forum. This was agreed.
iii. Farmer’s Markets – presentation. Kath Pinto and Diane Harker presented to the Forum on the subject of Farmer’s Markets within the Royal Borough. Over the past 10 years the markets had grown from just half a dozen stalls to over 20 every second Sunday in the month. The organisers were very grateful to the Borough for the use of Grove Road car park for their market. The market in Ascot had also expanded well and regularly had increasing numbers of visitors.
- Kath Pinto commented that in future it was the hoped that the market could be run on a Saturday, although this could be difficult to organise as the farmers had alternative markets to attend and the Grove Road car park could not be made available, so an alternative venue would need to be sourced.
- Parish Councillor Westacott commented that there were not enough waste sites in the Royal Borough and that Maidenhead’s recycling site was not very user-friendly.
Nigel Davis commented that it was probably for economic reasons that fly tippers illegally deposited their loads and that therefore it was a drain on the Borough’s resources as it cost in the region of £3,000 to clear up after them. Due to the nature of fly tippers who dumped their loads at night-time, it was difficult to investigate who had been committing these offenses, which in turn led to very few prosecutions. Landowners are able to inform DEFRA or the Environment Agency who would then pass on information to the local Police force, but because hard evidence was difficult to obtain, again, prosecutions were rare.
v. Community Council for Berkshire. Elaine Cook from the CCB gave an update since the last meeting explaining that the CCB was a member of the Rural Communities Action Network, an umbrella body comprising 38 rural community councils working with and for rural communities. CCB works closely with Parish and Town Councils, providing them with training and practical help and support on behalf of the Berkshire Association of Local Councils (BALC). CCB also works to support rural communities with community planning, rural housing and reported that 23 rural affordable homes were being planned for Berkshire, supporting the rural economy, particularly small rural towns, rural transport and access to services, support to village halls and other rural infrastructure. CCB manages a number of programmes on behalf of funders and has enabled over £400,000 of new funding to be accessed by rural communities in recent times.
Elaine Cook also reported on the development of the Rural Forum for South East and the key issues affecting rural communities that the Forum has identified
- - Affordable housing
- Access to services, in particular health services
- Loss of services, especially village shops and pubs
- Low levels of Skills and training
- Deprivation - People in rural communities on low income
- These key issues were being raised with the SE Rural Board and the Rural Minister.
It was also noted that from April 2009 a new initiative had been launched; a Community Buildings Advice Service (incorporating the former Village Halls Advice Service) which provides access to advice, support, training, workshops and conferences to the trustees of community buildings for a £150 per annum fee.
Parish Councillor Westacott asked if the CCB would support the opening of rural Post Offices. Elaine Cook reported that the CCB was actively involved in the campaign to prevent the closure of PO’s and was concerned to mitigate the effects of closures wherever possible.
- Geoffrey Copas commented that the High Wycombe Rural Forum organised a Farm Walk once a year for Rural Forum members and suggested that this could be organised for this forum. It was agreed that this would be looked into.
Geoffrey Copas also commented he was disappointed more farmers and Councillors hadn’t attended the meeting. He also asked that the Agenda in future could be shorter therefore enabling the meeting to be shorter.
It was agreed that 5.30pm was an ideal time for the forum to start.
6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
- The date of the next meeting will be Monday 16 November 2009, 5.30pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead.
- Ø New Uses for Redundant Farm Buildings
Ø BBO presentation – Food Groups
Ø Update from CCB
7. MEETING
The meeting, which opened at 5.30pm, ended at 7.30pm.