The farming industry is rallying around the next Government to take action on the 'blight' of rural crime hitting the UK recently.
Farmers across the UK are increasingly concerned about incidences of criminal activity including vehicle thefts, livestock theft, fly-tipping, sheep worrying, trespass, poaching, arson, vandalism and fraud.
Welsh farming union NFU Cymru held a meeting yesterday (18 May) to discuss rural affairs, in particular crime.
Rural Affairs Board Chair Hedd Pugh said crime in the countryside affects members of the farming community disproportionately.
“It costs farmers time and money and also presents a risk to human health, farm animals, wildlife and the environment. Farmers are experiencing increases in various rural crime incidents that severely impact their farm businesses and strike fear and distress into our rural communities.
“NFU Cymru is committed to making sure that farmers are not seen as a ‘soft target’ for criminals. Ahead of the 2017 General Election, the Union is seeking clear commitments from all political parties to address rural crime issues that are having a huge impact on farming communities and agricultural businesses.
“Whilst businesses who have been the victims of crime have taken steps to reduce the risk themselves, it is clear that much more must be done and the next Westminster Government must address rural crime and ensure that future funding for policing reflects the additional costs associated with policing in rural area.”
Rural crime taskforce
Police forces across the UK have started to develop specialist rural crime taskforces and teams.
In 2015, the National Rural Crime Survey discovered that rural communities were not only living in fear of crime being committed against them, but that they were under-reporting crime by up to a third.
In response to this, and following a meeting involving more than 100 stakeholders, North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce was established in April 2016.
And North Yorkshire is not the only county who have created a rural task, Derbyshire, Hampshire and Suffolk have also.
Recently, on Monday (15 May), Cumbria police and the NFU teamed up to create Country Watch West – a scheme that will specifically tackle farm based crime.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire Hardyal Dhindsa said rural crime costs the economy millions of pounds every year: He said: “Not only jeopardising business survival, but it undermines the confidence and feelings of safety of those who make their home in the countryside.
“It's critical that local people know exactly who to turn to for help on crime prevention to protect their homes and businesses and most importantly that someone is available to listen to them.”
Livestock theft
One of NFU Cymru’s top 10 policy asks for the 2017 General Election is tackling rural crime, such as fly-tipping, livestock theft and illegal off-roading.
The document asks: “The next UK Government must show that it is serious about rural crime, through funding which reflects the additional cost of policing rural arears and by refreshing sentencing guidelines to ensure that a deterrent effect is achieved.”
In particular, sheep rustling has seen a worrying increase. In this month alone, criminals stole more than 30 sheep from a field in the Isle of Skye, Scotland and stole more than 50 sheep in a raid on a north-east farm in Scotland.
And in February, rustlers stole almost 100 sheep worth just under £13,000 in a farm near Falkirk.
The increase in crime has led a team of young tech entrepreneurs to develop a real-time and remote area security system.
Developed over three years in consultation with Hampshire Police, TelemetriCop is a long-range, radio mesh networked, wireless security camera system specifically designed to counter crime as it develops rather than after it has happened.
