Together with Social Farms and Gardens, Powys County Council and others – the Future Farms Partnership – Our Food 1200 is currently piloting the building of three small farms on 38 acres of land owned by Powys County Council, near Sarn, which is near Newtown.
The planning application was submitted in March 2024.
During 2024-2025, this pilot will demonstrate:
- > The feasibility of getting planning permission. The planning application will test the new planning guidelines that we have developed with the Council to enable small farms to flourish.
- > The cost of development, maximising economies where possible (for example, shared business facilities and some development work done by incoming farmers with volunteers from the region).
- > The feasibility of recruiting farmers. We are working with Black Mountains College, which runs an NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Regenerative Horticulture, with the Landworkers’ Alliance‘s UK-wide network of land-seekers, and other farming organisations.
- > The rent farmers will pay.
- > Acceptability to the local community: making the farms look attractive and engaging local people in helping the new generation farmers to get going.
For the housing, we have chosen Nissen barns. These are suitable for small families and can be extended over time. They are built to last 100 years, and can be moved to another location if needed.
The Future Farms Partnership has raised about 25% of the capital required to develop the three farms. We will be busy raising the remainder during 2024!
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