A long-established and thriving family farm of in Staffordshire is set to be decimated by HS2 plans, destroying 15 out of 19 buildings and forcing the owners and their family to make another life for themselves.
A video made by the NFU shows the Barnes family’s story in efforts to bring awareness to the negative impact HS2 is set to have on more than a hundred farming businesses along Phase 1 of the route.
John and Rosemary Barnes run Packington Moor Farm, Lichfield with their son and daughter-in-law following two generations of John’s ascendants.
Though they are disappointed that their plans for further investment into their business have been put on hold, they remain realistic about the future with the HS2 plans in mind.
John Barnes said: “We have a flock of 200 sheep, 450 acres of cereals, a wedding venue, a farm shop and a café. HS2 will cut our farm in half and the bulk of its infrastructure will be demolished, as well as my son’s house.”
Rosemary Barnes added: “HS2 is destroying our life as we know it; we are prepared to make another life but we need certainty of the future and appropriate compensation to go with that.”
This is the second video in the NFU’s three-part HS2 Impacts series, which is part of the organisation’s efforts to ensure farmer’s needs, outlined at the end of each video, are met at every stage of the HS2 development.
Make your voice heard
NFU Members can either draft their own petition or if they are part of the Legal Assistance Scheme they can use an NFU template prepared by our Parliamentary agent, Sharpe Pritchard, which can be obtained by contacting CallFirst.
You have to deposit your petition in person to the HS2 Bill Clerk. This may be yourself, your MP, through a Roll B agent, or through Sharpe Pritchard our Roll A parliamentary Agent. There is a fee of £20 to deposit a petition.
Our concerns
The NFU believes that the compulsory purchase code is too complex and has limited ability in practice to put the claimants back into the position they would have been in if it were not for the scheme. Any farmer or land owner affected must be compensated promptly and fairly for any land they will lose to the HS2 Hybrid Bill;
- Temporary possession of land is a concern for the NFU, as it is to be acquired permanently for a temporary purpose. Land that is needed only temporarily during the construction phase should only be taken on a construction lease by HS2;
- There are concerns of compulsory acquisition of land for regeneration and relocation by the Secretary of State. The NFU will be objecting to this clause as it is important that individuals can benefit from any opportunity for regeneration or development that may arise from the scheme;
- The NFU is concerned with the amount of productive land that is to be taken out of primary agricultural production. Landowners and farmers may understand the loss of land for the construction of the line itself but not for environmental mitigation which is sited away from the proposed line. The NFU believes that environmental mitigation should be ‘like for like’ and the Hybrid Bill should not be a mechanism to create bigger and better mitigation measures. The NFU also believes that there should be direct negotiations with land owners regarding the location of such mitigation;
- Furthermore, where land severance is prolific, HS2 Ltd must ensure that landowners and farmers have good access to all their land through accommodation works including bridges and underpasses across the proposed line. To remain viable, farm businesses will need access to all severed land. These areas should not automatically be planted with trees;
- The construction of the line will cause the demolition of many farmhouses and agricultural buildings. Farmers need certainty in the ability that planning consent for replacement buildings will be granted;
- Tax issues that will arise due to the compulsory purchase of land for HS2 should be exempt. HS2 and the Treasury must acknowledge the exceptional circumstances in which members affected by HS2 will be affected;
- We object to the clause which would allow anyone connected to HS2 to have rights to enter land 500m from the line for surveying which includes the proposed line for Phase 2.