West Sussex

Your West Sussex county NFU update

Josh Redford

East Sussex and West Sussex County Adviser (maternity cover) and Surrey County Adviser

August has been a month of planning for the year and engaging with key stakeholders ahead of a busy winter of events and meetings.

With a focus on NFU regional board priorities, we鈥檝e got some great county level activity planned to supplement local branch activity in East and West Sussex.

This kicked off with farm walks in both counties, kindly hosted by Ian and Laura Russell and Frans and Archie de Boer.

In August we were able to John Milne MP at Westons Farm, where key local issues were raised around local food infrastructure and the Horsham local plan. It was also a good opportunity to find out more on Liberal Democrat views on the family farm tax.

In a display of the breadth of member work, regional dairy board chair Matt Ford kindly hosted a group of Flemish dairy farmers on a very warm summer day. It was a great opportunity to compare systems and discuss differences between government policies between the UK and Europe.

On Wednesday 10 September the industry celebrated Back British Farming Day, and this was our chance to champion farming at all levels.

It鈥檚 important that we use the momentum created by this event to continue raising the challenges the industry faces with key stakeholders. Continuing to write to and meeting with your MP is key if we are to get the changes we need.

With regards to Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), East and West Sussex are working alongside one another to complete their strategies. These go to public consultation in early autumn, and we will share this with members once it goes live.

Please reach out and get involved this winter and I look forward to meeting more of you as the winter meeting season progresses.

Local news

Key issues discussed with John Milne MP

NFU West Sussex members met with John Milne, Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham, to discuss key farming issues.

NFU Deputy President David Exwood hosted the meeting at Westons Farm near Horsham.

County Adviser Josh Redford said: "This was a really useful meeting and I'd like to thank members who attended at such a busy time in the farming calendar.

"We discussed key local issues around small abattoirs and local food infrastructure, as well as the Horsham local plan. It was also a good opportunity to hear Liberal Democrat views around the family farm tax.

鈥淚'll be working with local branches to set up meetings with our other local MPs.鈥�

Local news

NFU responds to South Downs National Park consultation

皇家华人has called for greater recognition for agriculture in the South Downs National Park management plan.

The park鈥檚 draft plan acknowledges the importance of farming within the park, but in the NFU response we pressed the national park authority to give greater weight to this aspect of the national park landscape.

We stated that a clearer definition of regenerative and nature friendly farming needs to be established and welcome the opportunity to work with the national park to define this.

We also stressed some of the potential issues around increased access to the park and called for action on improved signage and maintenance of current rights of way before new ones are created.

We highlighted the importance of supporting farmers within the park to remain economically and environmentally sustainable businesses, as valued parts of the South Downs landscape.

Thanks to all those who attended our webinar, or who fed into our consultation response.

The consultation closed on 1 August, but you can still read the draft management plan.