Public lands are public assets. It shouldn’t be sold to offset budget cuts.
We know that public farmland is critical, and local authorities need to persevere.Today, with protect rural england movement (CPRE) and shared assetswe set out a vision for how to protect and enhance county-level farmland by 2040.
Public lands are public assets. It should not be used for short-term profit, but for public or public interest. Public agencies should not sell public land to make up for austerity cuts in their budgets. Instead, the land should support the economy’s recovery from the pandemic by supporting new jobs in sustainable industries and help tackle the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. Public lands can play a key role in addressing these and future challenges by experimenting with better farming and land management practices, and local authorities can set an example. By providing land, mentoring, cooperative farming or other forms of partnership, it supports new entrants to the industry, or people already working on farms and looking to advance in the industry. Public lands could allow these people to finally retire with dignity, providing housing for the deceased farmers on their farms. Used creatively, county farms can be at the heart of sustainable, more just local economies and communities.
With the right policies, county farms can better serve local authorities, farmers by 2040 and local community.With a steady increase in the amount of public land, opportunities for new entrants to implement sustainable agriculture will increase restore our environment. Higher community participation in county-level farmland decision-making and greater democratic control will enable people to develop healthier relationships with the land while using it to mitigate the climate crisis and restore wildlife species.
Reversing this decades-long depletion of publicly owned farmland may seem daunting, but — along with CPRE and shared assets — we have a plan. Currently, the existence and benefits of public farmland are not widely known and we need to re-understand the importance of having parliamentary farms across the country. Local authorities need support to develop and manage their farm assets and develop strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are in line with our national and local goals.
Local authorities need the leadership and direction of central government to manage and develop their farm assets. The strategies they develop should be aligned with UK climate targets and the council’s own climate plan.
Fundamentally, we need to recognize the broader value of public farmland in order to reap broad benefits from better land use. This recognition needs to be matched with action to support the strategies and decisions of local authorities and other public landowners to improve their farmland.
For example, if we can expand the background spectrum of people who want to farm by targeting people from non-agricultural backgrounds with transferable skills, especially from marginalized groups and minorities, through aggressive training and support programs, we Career prospects that can make farming more inclusive and diverse. It is also critical to help new entrants, existing tenants and other work council farms realize local, new and higher value produce sales opportunities.
The local authority’s annual report on county farms should include a public register of all council land by type and provide easily accessible information on farm ownership and its characteristics. Making this information available for public scrutiny will help local producers and community groups to develop strategies once they know what is available and when.
Fundamentally, we need to change the way local authorities value the assets they own, such as land, and the way they decide to sell those assets.if we By giving committees the responsibility to assess the wider social, economic and environmental benefits of farmland they may buy or sell, we can ensure that this land is not sold as unaffordable housing, thus providing a one-off one-off to local authorities Payment. Involving local communities in setting goals and management priorities for their county farms is important for developing locally-led rather than private profit models. Parliament should introduce a new policy to buy two acres of land for every one acre of public land sold to reverse the loss of public farmland and all the benefits it can provide for people and the planet.
We need a rapid transition to sustainable low-carbon agriculture, and county farms can help achieve this by expanding the range of benefits they provide locally. Integrating current programs into buying leases, offering new leases, modernizing the farm’s built structure, etc. will shorten the supply chain and help new farmers who are interested in agroecology gain access to land, helping these new farmers to start producing food at low prices Carbon and sustainable ways. We need to ensure that Parliament Farms is a beacon for agricultural transformation and public goods delivery. This requires continuous investment.This new entrant program Launched in 2021 by Defra to inject new funding into some council farms. But this will only last from 2022 to 2024. This commitment should be extended to 2028.
With these actions as the foundation for an honest, ongoing dialogue between government, the agricultural sector and wider civil society, we can use the precious resources under our feet for the public good for everyone.
Read our full vision for county farms to 2040 here
Image: Pixel
