Brynle Williams AM, Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, has today written to the Welsh Assembly Government after Flintshire County Council confirmed to him that the £1million cost of complying with Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) regulations is forcing them to sell-off their council-owned farms. Mr Williams, Regional Assembly Member for North Wales, said:
“I am dismayed that the council has been forced to consider selling its agricultural estate because the cost of the regulations is so high.
“Wales has suffered with no-end of costly European regulations like the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, electronic ID for sheep and the ban on the burial of fallen stock, and for little or no practical benefit.
“Council holdings are an enormously important public asset, and can be the only route into agriculture for new and young farmers.
“I understand the financial pressures that local authorities are under, but the consequences of the disposal these estates will be felt for years to come.”
