CLA INSISTS ON 'EVOLUTION NOT FOSSILISATION' OF REDUNDANT AND HISTORIC FARM BUILDINGS

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has called for far greater government recognition of the important role that farmers and landowners play in protecting and maintaining our rural heritage.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has called for far greater government recognition of the important role that farmers and landowners play in protecting and maintaining our rural heritage.

Pointing to the revelations of a new report¹ released by English Heritage today - which warns that traditional farm buildings, fundamental to the character of the countryside, are fast disappearing - the CLA highlights the problems which its members have been confronting for some time; how to maintain and conserve buildings which nowadays have no agricultural use.

In light of the report, CLA West Midlands is urging government to be supportive of new use for our rural heritage which better enables 'the evolution not fossilisation' of our redundant and historic farm buildings. In particular, it is calling for:

·          a capital grant regime that is sufficiently funded and un-bureaucratic
·          a planning regime that starts from the presumption 'for', 'not against'
·          a highways regime that is sympathetic towards commercial enterprise 'beyond the 30 mph speed limit', and
·          a listed buildings regime that is far less negative

"Few traditional farm buildings are suited to modern farming systems," says CLA West Midlands Regional Director, Frances Beatty. "There are hay barns that can't take silage or big bales, open fronted barns that are too low for tractors, oast houses with no hops left and cattle barns that don't comply with pollution standards.

"The cost of maintaining these buildings is a burden that falls mainly on the private owner. Some of our members are obliged to spend thousands of pounds a year on the repair and upkeep of farm buildings which they have no use for any more. But new uses for farm buildings, which retain their character and historic significance, can be found.

"Demonstrating considerable innovation and enterprise, new and profitable uses for redundant farm buildings are being identified across the West Midlands," says Mrs Beatty, who points to the CLA's on-going training programme (Enterprise Works) which has never failed to flag up the potential. "New uses range from offices to holiday accommodation, from conference centres to farm shops.

"Time and time again the business case for commercial conversion will stack up and the money generated from the new use more than covers the cost of the restoration. The IT revolution and availability of broadband also means that remoteness from urban hubs is no longer a problem."

Mrs Beatty continues: "Few realise that there is a risk that hundreds of old barns, sheds, byres, outhouses and stables face dereliction. What a waste, when investing in the repair of these buildings, as English Heritage's hard evidence now shows, pays economic and social dividends for rural communities.

"But preserving the past in exact detail is a costly exercise," she insists, "and in all cases private owners must be involved and fully supported by government funding, the planners, highways departments and local authorities in the development and the delivery of the solution."

- ends -

Notes to Editor:

1. The English Heritage report – 'Heritage Counts 2005' - comprises a summary document, a full national report and a suite of regional reports that provide further detailed analysis of the state of the rural historic environment in each of the nine government office regions. Copies are available from English Heritage Customer Services: 0870 3331181 (Email. customers@english-heritage.org.uk, or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk).
   
2. CLA: The Country Land and Business Association is the premier organisation safeguarding the interests of those responsible for land, property and business throughout rural England and Wales.
   
3. Enterprise Works is the training arm of CLA West Midlands. The training programme targets individuals and businesses in the farming and rural sectors, and offers several ways of learning through short courses, workshops and other practical hands-on events covering a wide variety of subject areas.

For further information:

Frances Beatty, Regional Director, CLA West Midlands – Tel: 01785 284722, Mob: 07970 186506

Issued by Julie Mate, Marketing Manager, CLA West Midlands, Knightley, Woodseaves, Staffordshire  ST20 0JW.  Tel. 01785 284722  Mob. 07775 847123  Email. julie.mate@cla.org.uk

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