Broadclyst Community Farm

Open Steering group meeting 27th January 2010

The full minutes from this meeting will be available as soon as possible, a brief summary of the main points / concerns raised at the meeting is below.

Finance.

Business planning and governance will be the main focus for 2010.

Questions about finance were raised:

• It was reinforced that money for this project is very tight but whilst the project is not for profits  it will not be allowed to make a loss.

• People were advised that first year costs will be available shortly.

• David Jenkins confirmed that the National Trust will make a loss initially on the farm as the rental will be reduced. This will be gradually increased in a step process to a normal rate. It was confirmed that National Trust has asked for up to a 10 year commitment on the lease. We will probably be looking at between 5-10 years this will include break clauses which give options every so many years to hand back the lease. It was suggested that we may have to look at a licence for the first year rather than go straight into the long term lease.

• David Jenkins confirmed that options have not been closed on the farmhouse going into the future and the current farmhouse tenants have a short-term, one year tenancy.

• Additional land may also be available going into the future.

• A vision statement will be finalised within the next 2-3 weeks and a meeting date with The National Trust has been requested regarding the lease / offer.

Visual inpact.
There were concerns raised about the visual inpact of the farm:

• There will not be a “shanty town” look to the farm.

• The farm will not be divided up in the style of allotments for individuals to run. The new village allotments are being based at the other side of the road from the farm, beyond the existing allotments.

• A farm shop is not included on the initial plan. The thinking at this stage is more for a vegetable box scheme. Distribution of these boxes will probably be from a depot sited elsewhere within the community.

• The position of the access track is not yet known and there will be full consultancy with the Highways Agency / National Trust before any decisions are made. It may be that restrictions are put in place as to who can actually drive onto the farm site.

• Any necessary parking will be beyond a shelter belt so that it is hidden from view.

• The question of what buildings are to be erected was raised - The start of the project will be very basic and compost toilets are the only construction planned at the present time.

• The historical field boundaries, should be re-instated enabling efficient management enabling rotation between crops, livestock and fields left fallow.

• The assumption is that the boundaries will be hedgerows but a grant scheme will be needed to achieve this. Liaison with Natural England over grant aid is required.

• Shelter belts of trees / orchards and a wildlife framework with pond and education space was also proposed.

• Water will be essential to the site, the National Trust are investigating a bore hole.

• If there is a desire for the farm to go down the route of commercial composting, then planning permission will be sought.

What would be grown kept at the farm.

It is known that the soil is in a very poor condition so building up soil fertility is a priority A soil test/analysis would need to be carried out to access what we have and what we need to do to improve this.Iit was suggested that the whole area could be sown with a clover ley and green manure could also be tried. There would be help with this from the National Trust / funding from Defra.

• 2011 should be considered as the point where we start putting seed into the ground to produce food.

• It is envisaged that a grower will be employed to manage all the crops on the farm.

• It is hoped by 2011 to have some poultry on site. It is hoped by 2012 to have some pigs on site.

• It is hoped to plant a few trees in the ground on 6th March to demonstrate that we have commitment for the project and allow the National Trust to draw down funding from Defra for the clover ley/green manure.

• A balance will have to be struck between what crops the community want to grow and purchase, and what is actually viable.

Vision Statements

The vision statements from the subgroups can be viewed in full on the website under Community / Subgroups, the remainder will be added as they become available.

It was stressed that ideas are being put forward by the subgroups to form an initial plan but that nothing is set in stone. The Steering Group will commit to nothing until feasibility studies have been undertaken and plans have been carefully costed through.

The neighbouring residents to the farm wanted it understood that whilst they had made many negative comments during the meeting, they are not against the farm project but they do have concerns about what may be erected on the land as they directly overlook it from their homes. They were advised that no-one involved in the farm project wants it to look like a “shanty town” and it was time to draw a line under these discussions and start to move forward.

Occumbe Farm

A presentation on Occombe Farm was made by Dominic Ackland.

This a Community Supported Agriculture Scheme(CSA) near Paignton, which started 4 years ago. It is very different from the proposed project in Broadclyst but he was able to highlight some of the difficulties that they had encountered along the way.

A visit to Occombe Farm to see what ideas we can bring back from the visit is being planned, if there is enough interest for a coach load then a trip could be arranged to on 20th March at a cost of £6 per person. More details under 'Events'.

Contacting us:

Please contact us via the farm's main email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or use the contact details for the subgroup leaders if you have further questions about the ideas and plans outlined. or if you would like to join one of the subgroups.