HEREFORDSHIRE Council’s deferral of a decision on the future for its smallholdings estate until next summer  has been branded “unprofessional and unsympathetic”.

Cllr Bob Matthews told a meeting of the full council today  that the situation facing tenants was “intolerable”.

Cllr Matthews told the council of “quite a few tenants” with young families and considerable overheads who are on short term farm business tenancies, some with less than eight months remaining.

“I understand that verbal offers of extensions to their  contracts have been made, but have not been formally confirmed in writing.

“This is an intolerable situation, and I am aware that a large number of members are extremely concerned about the unprofessional and unsympathetic manner in which this matter is being handled,” said Cllr Matthews.

Cllr Harry Bramer, cabinet member for contracts & assets, confirmed that a decision on the future for the smallholdings was now due in June 2015.

The delay, said Cllr Bramer, allowed for business case, assessing the options, to be fully developed.

In the meantime the smallholdings estate will continue to be managed in accordance with the current policy, with officers in communication with tenants to ensure they are kept informed, he said.

The council has already said that it cannot plough any more money into its smallholdings.

A draft report on the future for smallholdings was presented in July.

The council says officers had identified “significant”  work that needed to be done on the  “complex” options to be considered, including testing planning assumptions, market conditions and development opportunities.

A “position statement” on the smallholdings will be put to the overview and scrutiny Committee in November, but this will not include any recommendations.

The timetable for completing the proposed programme of work and review will take into account any comments from overview and scrutiny to be incorporated into any subsequent Cabinet reports.

Overall, the estate covers around 4,800 acres across the county with approximately 50 farmed tenanted smallholdings and woodland divided into 14 separate parcels of land.

The council’s current smallholdings policy dates back to 2009 and has not been reviewed since.

Priorities for the council have shifted dramatically since, as cuts decimate the extent of funding available and services provided.

An options appraisal is seen by the council as needed to inform future policy development and decisionmaking and identify the true value contained within the estate.

Continuing with existing policy has already been ruled out as, according to the council’s assessment, the net rates of return from lettings constitute poor value for money.