The Rural Bulletin: 25 January 2018

New Code for Scottish agricultural tenanted holdings

Scottish landlords and tenants should ensure they comply with the new Code on Repair and Maintenance Obligations for tenanted agricultural holdings.

Published by the Tenant Farming Commissioner, the Code is based on four key principles; compliance with legally binding obligations, regular meetings and discussions, keeping records of agreements and repairs carried out, and a record of condition.

“This is a very important Code and I would urge all parties who are engaged in tenancies to familiarise themselves with it and ensure that they are compliant,” says NFU Scotland President Andrew McCornick.

Environment Agency wins flooding case

The High Court has thrown out a court case against the Environment Agency, brought by a group of Gloucestershire farmers after their land was flooded by the River Severn in 2007 and 2014.

The farmers claimed the EA had deliberately let their farms flood to protect Gloucester city, and sought £300,000 in compensation, in what has been seen as a test case.

However, while the judge agreed it was likely that the EA had a policy to use the fields in this way, they were sited on a flood plain and experts had not come up with data to support claims that flooding in the area had worsened in recent decades.

Health and safety inspections loom

Health and safety inspectors will be visiting farms across the country over the next month to ensure measures are in place to protect workers.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, 27 people were killed on farms in 2016-17, with 13,000 more suffering non-fatal injuries in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors.

Falls from height are the second most common cause of death on British farms, with at least eight dying from this every year. Inspectors will be checking how the risk of falling from height is being controlled, whether the work is being carried out by people with the right training, and how exposure to asbestos is being prevented. 

Beware grid connection ‘con’

Rural landowners are being conned into paying £1,000 or more for spurious applications to connect potential energy generation or battery storage sites to the power network.

According to independent power consultant Roadnight Taylor, unreputable ‘experts’ are leading landowners to believe that they have a suitable site, and charging up-front fees for applications that stand no chance of success. Landowners then end up out of pocket and may also miss out on a genuine opportunity worth up to £125,000 in annual rent for less than two acres. 

“The grid market is so specialist that it’s vital to speak to a professional who is totally immersed in the industry,” explains Edward Holloway, land agent at Knight Frank.

“We will always speak to Roadnight Taylor to establish whether a site is suitable before our clients start incurring unnecessary fees.”