A CALL to allow a Pembrokeshire farm diversification which packages and distributes specialist medical equipment across Europe to relocate to an agricultural building has been turned down by county planners.

In an application to Pembrokeshire County Council, Mr Van Der Spoel of Castle Villa Farm, Hayscastle, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, sought permission for the relocation and expansion of an existing farm diversification business into an existing agricultural building.

A supporting statement said the applicant, together with his wife and adult daughter ran the farm diversification at their 135-acre sheep farm.

It added: “The business run from this site is FRIO ASTRID EURO Ltd, which has a franchise agreement with FRIO UK. This business has been run from Castle Villa since its incorporation in 1998. The business was initially run from the stable building on the farmyard at Castle Villa.

“The business set-up involves receiving stock from FRIO UK in Wolfscastle, packaging orders and distributing the stock to seven Western Europe countries. There are three employees, Mr Van der Speol, his wife and adult daughter who all live at Castle Villa.”

Wolfscastle-based FRIO produces the world’s first patented insulin cooling wallet which keeps insulin and other temperature-sensitive medicines cool and safe.

The supporting statement said the Castle Villa Farm business has now outgrown the site and scope for increasing the building is unviable, and all other buildings at the farm used for agricultural purposes.

It added: “In terms of a functional need for the business to be located at this site, the applicant still farms over 135 acres surrounding the site and 300 sheep. He could be needed at any given moment to tend to these sheep, especially during lambing season. Therefore, having the site just a seven-minute walk away is vital in ensuring the agricultural use is not lost at Castle Villa.

“Additionally, the products distributed from the site are medical products and therefore, efficiency of getting these products away to purchasers is vital. Losing hours each week commuting would drastically reduce the efficiency of the business and could result in a downturn of business.”

An officer report recommending refusal said a previous retrospective application for a steel-framed storage and distribution building was refused, with a later appeal dismissed, a later application conditionally allowing the building for an agricultural use.

It also said an appeal had been lodged with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) in early 2024 after an enforcement notice was served, adding an inspector later confirming the only ground upheld was the period for compliance with the notice was too short.

The scheme was refused by county planners on the grounds the development “does not derive its inputs from the land, it is not therefore an enterprise for which a countryside location is essential”.

It added: “In addition, robust evidence has not been provided to demonstrate that the type of activity being undertaken could not be accommodated, or would not be viable, within a nearby settlement or an allocated employment site.

“The development also fails to demonstrate that the scheme operates as a farm diversification. Therefore, it has not been demonstrated that the development is in an appropriate location.”

A PETITION calling for a full review and debate of Pembrokeshire’s “not fit for purpose” county farm policy has attracted nearly 2,000 signatures, triggering it being debated by councillors at a future meeting.

The Pembrokeshire County Council e-petition was launched by tenants being forced to leave their council-owned farm which is host to a Good Food Guide accredited restaurant, and attracted 1,822 signatures.

Paternoster Farm near Hundleton, which has a restaurant in the old milking shed, has featured in the Good Food Guide for the last three years.

The restaurant is run by former family solicitor, Michelle Evans, with this year’s Good Food Guide describing Paternoster Farm as ‘earthy and rustic’ with deliciousness, warmth and strength of recommendation all described as good, while the restaurant’s uniqueness was rated as very good.

However, the acclaimed business built up over the last four years is now under threat, as the ten-year farm tenancy with Pembrokeshire County Council comes to an end.

In the e-petition to Pembrokeshire County Council, which has now closed, Leum Evans asked: “We call on Pembrokeshire County Council to conduct a full and thorough review of county farm policy.

“We call for a declaration that current county farm policy is not fit for purpose when it fails to encourage diversification in a way that adds value to a farm’s own produce, keeps the produce within the farm, and feeds the local community, when policy fails to support a holding such as Paternoster Farm.

“We call for a motion of no confidence in both county farm policy, and the county farm estate department. We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to commission an independent review of farm policy by suitably qualified (independent) third parties.

“We call for a full debate on the future of the county farm estate, and whether its continued existence, in its current form, can even be justified. We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to commission how Public Procurement Policy could effect a link between county farms, and school meals in the county.”

The petition went on to say: “Current county farm policy has been shown to support neither farm diversification nor integration into the community. This has been illustrated by the recent treatment of the current tenants of Paternoster Farm.

“If county farm policy does not support and encourage our type of farming enterprise, one which farms the holding to its fullest whilst caring for the land, farms regeneratively, provides employment, fosters community links, supports a wealth of local businesses, supports local schools, feeds farm produce to the community every single week of the year, then it cannot possibly be said to be fit for purpose.”

It claims £50m of public money is invested in county farms for 42 tenants, adding: “Is this a fair and equitable distribution of local authority resources when county farm policy does nothing to encourage any benefit to the wider community?”

It finished: “It is all very well to seek to help new entrants into farming, but what are the authority really trying to achieve? Farming for farming’s sake is not enough. The authority has to ask, who will benefit, and to what extent?”

Pembrokeshire County Council has previously said that proposals at Paternoster were in line with council policy, with novice farmers being offered a smaller farm while they get established in the industry before moving on to bigger establishments.

“Pembrokeshire County Council owns a farm estate for the expressed purpose of providing those who wish to farm a way of entering into the industry,” said a council spokesman.

“To fulfil this function, tenancies are not for life but are for a fixed term, to enable tenants to ‘move on’ to larger farm holdings, as these tenants are being offered the opportunity to do.”

The council said that the 10-year lease entered into with Michelle and her family reflected this policy, with them now offered a tenancy at a larger council farm holding.

Anyone who lives, works or studies within the Pembrokeshire County Council area may sign or organise a petition. This includes anyone under the age of 18.

If the petition gets 500 signatures, the creator will have an opportunity to debate it at a full council meeting.

THE FOOD processing industry in Wales is incredibly depressed about the future, with a fall in livestock numbers placing a question mark over its prospects, witnesses warned.

Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors’ Association, told the Senedd’s rural affairs committee: “My members are incredibly concerned about the direction of travel.

“And it doesn’t just apply to Wales, [it’s] right across the whole country, but I think it’s particularly significant here: the decline in livestock numbers, the projections and, dare I say, the attitude and the desire… in the Welsh Government to actually drive a further reduction.”

Mr Allen said: “Big investors and employers in Wales are incredibly concerned about the future: more than concerned, I’d say incredibly depressed about what the future holds.”

He warned: “Unfortunately, it seems endemic within civil servants that they don’t really want to help industry and work with them. They seem to almost [act] as a police force to stop us doing things rather than thinking ‘this is what’s good for the country’.”

Mr Allen, who has been involved in discussions since the controversial sustainable farming scheme was paused by ministers, suggested the dial has barely moved in the months since. He described ministers’ approach to bluetongue disease as “another nail in the coffin”.

José Peralta, chief executive of Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales, said livestock numbers have dropped significantly and will likely continue to fall.

Giving evidence on June 2, he warned: “That poses a big question mark about how do we carry on in the future with an industry that remains competitive.”

Kepak, a family owned business which runs a beef and lamb processing site in Merthyr Tydfil, employing 1,000 people, raised urgent and grave concerns about livestock numbers.

In its written evidence, the company said: “The efficiency and viability of our operations and the jobs that we provide rely on a critical mass of livestock.”

Asked about the Welsh Government’s 2021 vision for the industry, Mr Peralta said: “It’s a set of very nice and good aims but I struggle to see sometimes what’s underneath that’s going to drive all the different elements to get to that final aim.”

Raising the example of Ireland, he added: “They have conviction, they have ambition and they put money behind it. And those are the three things… we would have to change.”

Andrew RT Davies, who chairs the rural affairs committee which is holding an inquiry on food processing, questioned whether Wales is “chasing a hare we will never catch” amid falls in livestock numbers and a dramatic decline in abattoirs.

The Tory asked: “Or are we just managing the decline of the livestock sector here in Wales?”

John Thorley, chairman of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, warned changes introduced by the Welsh Government have reduced farmers’ confidence.

“That is, I believe, underlying everything,” he said.

Mr Allen told the committee: “I don’t know whether it’s accidental or deliberate but it feels as though we’re just managing decline. I find it really frustrating.”

Warning many schemes aimed at helping farmers are “totally contrary to what you ought to be doing”, he stressed that Wales has one of the best climates for livestock in the world.

He said: “It seems as though we’re just managing decline and wanting to get rid of it.

“And for what? To my mind, to be brutal about it, it’s a form of nimbyism [not in my back yard]: you’re going to head towards a net zero in Wales, wonderful – but you’re going to be importing a load of meat from the rest of the world.”

Rhun ap Iorwerth, who represents Ynys Môn which has lost two large slaughterhouses, asked whether the abattoir network should be a critical part of national infrastructure.

Mr Allen agreed with the Plaid Cymru leader’s suggestion, saying: “What’s the point in farmers producing livestock if you haven’t got the processing sector?”

Mr Peralta, who runs an abattoir on Anglesey and previously closed another, said: “That was for a single reason, not enough livestock… that is the fundamental issue.

“When you look at it, Wales slaughtered two-and-a-half million sheep last year – compare that to three million just in Anglesey eight-nine-10 years ago.”

Mr Thorley said: “We need more abattoirs. But we also need controls which are appropriate. The controls… at the moment are over the top, far too expensive and don’t actually deliver.”

He added: “I look at it sometimes and I get—disgusted is the wrong word but I find myself feeling ‘what the hell is going on?’. We wanted there to be a government in Wales – it could do such a lot but I don’t see it, I don’t see the evidence.”