THE Agricultural & Countryside Board is backing a Torteval farmer in his planning battle. The Island Development Committee has turned down farmer Frank Le Cheminant’s application to build a cattle shed and slurry store on a former vinery site.

He wants to move his herd across the parish to the former Smithfield Vinery site after his landlord gave him notice to quit his farm by August.

In a letter to the IDC, board president Peter Roffey said a high percentage of open land in Guernsey was farmed and this was recognised in the new Rural Area Plan.

‘I am not for one moment suggesting that farmers should be exempt from following good planning principles and minimising the impact of their developments,’ he said.

‘I would, however, suggest that for farming to continue, it needs to have modern facilities to be viable in the 21st century.’

Mr Le Cheminant said he would be forced out of business unless his plans for development were approved.

Deputy Roffey said that while seeking to protect the countryside, it was important not to be so strict that the industry that created and maintained it could no longer practise in it.

When considering farm-related development in the country parishes, it was important to be both practical and flexible.

Deputy Roffey said he was not trying to tell the IDC how to go about its job.

‘But I feel the need to provide a counterweight to those who seek to live in the country and then object to the practicality of country life,’ he said.

These practicalities included such things as slurry management, cows in fields that in turn involved cowpats, the inevitable flies and tractor noise.

The island now had 21 registered dairy farmers, said Deputy Roffey in his letter. The good news was that a significant number of them have the confidence to invest in the future and were looking to expand their herds.

‘Mr Le Cheminant is a relatively young farmer with such confidence and it is through the likes of him that the future of farming will be secured,’ he said.

‘This may not happen if too many obstacles are placed in his way.’

As president of the board, he said it was natural that he felt strongly about the importance of the industry in its own right.

‘From a broader perspective, however, what is at issue is the future of the countryside, which relies so heavily on continued farming activity,’ he said.

The residents of Alderney had been shocked at how quickly the open amenity of the island had been lost in the couple of years when there was no farming there.

‘I am not suggesting we want an island totally dominated by improved grassland with no wild areas, but it is a delicate mix with dairy farming playing a key role in maintaining the balance.’

He acknowledged it was difficult to approve development in the green zone, but the reason it was so designated was because it was attractive countryside, which in turn was largely down to the long-term presence of dairy farming.

‘Therefore, if we want to maintain a countryside, we need a sizeable and vibrant diary industry over the next 50 years.’