Threat to starter farms

The small farms owned by the county council in Carmarthenshire may be under threat of a sell-off according to Plaid Cymru. As part of its review of assets across the county, the council is considering the future of a number of small farms which are intended to help people enter the farming industry. When pressed at a recent council meeting, the county’s leader, Independent Party councillor Meryl Gravell refused to give an assurance that the farms would not be sold.

Speaking for the Plaid Group, Cllr Tyssul Evans said later, “The council has owned a small number of starter farms for very many years. They are a vital element of the help available to people to enter the farming industry, and many farmers have benefited from them over the years. It would be a tragedy for an agricultural county like Carmarthenshire to lose this vital facility. It would be an even bigger tragedy if they were sold off for development.”