A FARMER has accused county councillors of “the economic and social cleansing of the land” as she prepares to leave the farm she has run for 16 years.

Sue Osborne has farmed at Oxenford Farm in Dowlish Wake near Ilminster with her husband David since 2002, taking it on a 16-year lease from Somerset County Council.

The council has been selling off its county farms since October 2010, following a review of its estate farming policy.

Unable to buy the land, the Osbornes and others in their position could soon see their livelihoods taken away.

Mrs Osborne, who also serves as a South Somerset district councillor, said that the council’s decision would have a terrible impact on her family and the local community.

She said: “Oxenford Farm was let as a progression farm and full-time holding, and we have invested in the farm and the pedigree dairy herd since 2002 when we took the tenancy here.

“Since then we have both become active members of the community, supporting a range of village events and helping where needed.

“David is 60 this year, I am 58 and we have a 12-year-old daughter. It seems cruel to cause such major upheaval at a point in our lives when it is difficult to establish an alternative career.”

Mrs Osborne said that she had been receiving support from South Somerset MIND, a mental health charity, as a result of the ordeal.

She added: “The farm is part of the community and is one of the last working dairy farms on the Donyatt Estate.  In 2002, there were more than 20 dairy farms on the Donyatt Estate, now there are just two.

“Dairy farming is part of Somerset’s heritage and an important industry for the local rural economy.  It doesn’t just provide direct employment, but underpins many other rural businesses which enhance and attract visitors to Somerset.

“The council is not just selling the farms, it is breaking them up so they can never be complete farms again.  It has now priced the houses and building at development value, making them unaffordable to buy for the tenants.”

Chard & Ilminster News:

In October 2010, the council agreed to a “major rationalisation” of its county farm estate and voted to sell off a large number of its farms – including Oxenford Farm – when their leases ended.

Kevin Nacey, the council’s director of finance and performance, stated at the time these these sales were necessary to “direct resources to services the public needs the most”, including capital spending on roads and schools.

A review of the policy in December 2017 estimated the county farms to be worth around £50M on the open market, but found that the council’s rental income from tenants was an “appallingly low” £419,000 per year – less than one per cent of the land’s total capital value.

The council voted in December that the estate should be maintained in some form, with small blocks of five to 20 acres being let on ten-year leases ” to provide farming opportunities for genuinely new entrants to agriculture and encourage rural diversification.”

However, it also agreed that existing farmhouses should be sold or let at market level when they become available, and that outbuildings and land should be marketed for developers to “maximise the council’s financial returns.”

The council currently owns 27 farms, and is seeking to sell off around half a dozen of these over the summer.

The Osbornes have been trying to purchase part of the land since 2011, but were unable to afford the £1.1M price tag put to them by the council’s valuers.

Mr Osborne unsuccessfully appealed for a five-year extension to their lease, with the council eventually allowing them to remain until the end of May.

All of their cows – more than 300 in number – will be sold on May 1, with all the farming equipment to be disposed of a fortnight later.

The family has managed to buy the cottage next door to the farm, ensuring that they will not be left homeless after the lease ends.

Mrs Osborne said: “It is very sad to see such moral cowardice exists at the very top of the county council.

“They are failing to appreciate the rural economy. What they are doing is the economic and social cleansing of the land.

“Is this really a decent way to treat people in the 21st century? If this is how they treat me, how do they treat others who are vulnerable?

“It is not just another farm that is going, but a whole way of life and with it my cultural identity, and in the cruellest way possible.”

A council spokesman said: “This farm is one of several that are surplus to our requirements and are in the process of being sold under the current policy.

“Although we do understand that the current tenants do not wish to leave, they have known of the change of policy since 2010 and we have honoured their fixed term tenancy in full.

“As a county council we have no statutory obligation to provide county farms and use third parties to provide appropriate valuations.

“About half of the farms since the change in policy in 2010 have been sold to tenants in whole or part.”