COUNTY RURAL ESTATE HQ SELL-OFF PLAN (Cheltenham Liberal Democrats)

Cheltenham Liberal Democrats <info@cheltlibdems.org.uk>

COUNTY RURAL ESTATE HQ SELL-OFF PLAN

December 5, 2007 2:27 PM

Headquarters of Gloucestershire's Rural Estate is to be sold off and the county's rural estate faces a bleak future. Liberal Democrat councillors have discovered Tory county council plans to shut down and sell-off the Malthouse Rural Estate office at Standish, near Stonehouse. The buildings which provide the Rural Estate HQ are part of the largest county council rural estate in Gloucestershire, a total of 1,235 acres.

The rural estate is a group of Council owned farms dispersed around the County which provide young tenant farmers with a way into farming.

Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Liberal Democrat leader, said: "Once again the Tories are trying to sell-off the county farms to raise some short term cash. Shutting down the nerve-centre of the rural estate will be the start of the break-up of the rural estate and the end of county farms in Gloucestershire. Staff at the Malthouse HQ do a great job running the county farms and managing countryside issues across Gloucestershire. The secrecy that has surrounded the decision to end the proper management of the estate just shows the Tory councillors are ashamed to be open about their plans for the estate. Following our campaign last year the council made promises to tenant farmers to continue to support the county farms. This decision clearly sweeps away the support farmers receive, ends the council commitment to countryside issues and makes clear the council has no interest in supporting young tenant farmers in Gloucestershire"

The Malthouse building is not only the HQ for the Rural Estate, but also the management centre for many essential countryside services. Public Rights of Way, Land Management and Drainage are run from the Malthouse. Gloucestershire also has the contract to manage South Gloucestershire Council's estate and this is set to lose its HQ at the Malthouse. More worryingly, the Malthouse is the HQ of the Cotswold Way National Trail.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA) recently reported on the management of rural estates and county farms in England, the data they provided was assessed by the county council which concluded: "Gloucestershire Rural Estates is being managed efficiently and that the management team is providing a value for money service". Gloucestershire's Rural Estate management compared well to other English county councils.

Cllr Dr John Cordwell, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Environment, said: "The management of the rural estate is critical to proper consideration of countryside issues in Gloucestershire. The HQ of the Cotswold Way National Trail is located at the Malthouse offices. Our county's tenant farmers regard the Rural Estate office as symbolic of the commitment Gloucestershire has to rural issues. This sudden decision to shut down the management of estate clearly threatens the future of the county farms."