The prime minister has been urged to show support to a tenant couple by rejecting a plan to install a solar farm and battery energy storage system on land they have farmed for 30 years.
The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has urged Rishi Sunak to intervene and lend his support to Rob and Emma Sturdy, who could see the new installation take up 44ha out of the 53ha they farm.
The development was submitted by the landowner of the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation, to be sited on farmland at Old Malton, North Yorkshire.
TFA chief executive, George Dunn said it would be a 'travesty' if the application was allowed to succeed, as it would 'threaten' their business.
The body has written to the North Yorkshire Strategic Planning Committee urging them to acknowledge the 'widespread concerns' regarding the development.
Mr Dunn said: "Acceptance of this application would go against current public policy on food security, maintaining best and most versatile agricultural land, improving landscape and biodiversity, and protecting the resilience of the tenanted sector of agriculture.”
The Sturdys, who are TFA members, have farmed at Eden Farm for over 30 years, with their tenancy regulated under the terms of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986.
This gives them lifetime security and the right to pass on their tenancy to two further generations.
One succession of tenancy has already occurred and a further opportunity for succession remains available.
Mr Dunn said that should the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation prove successful in its attempt to gain planning consent for change of use under this application, the Sturdys would face an "incontestable notice" to quit of the land subject to their tenancy.
He added: “Long standing industry approved guidance exists for how landlords should consult with tenants in circumstances where the landlord desires to seek consent for change of use. This has not been followed in this case.
"That failure represents a breach of what would be considered good practice in its conduct of negotiations with the tenant.
“It is clear, as landlords, the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation has not taken sufficient concern to ensure that the personal circumstances, hardship and difficulties of the Sturdy’s have been addressed.
"This failure is not just one of process, but it is a material consideration that must be addressed by the local authority,” said Mr Dunn.
The North Yorkshire Strategic Planning Committee will consider the application at its meeting on the 10 October.
The planning officer has recommended approval.
