Funding crisis for Kingswood community farm but council vows to keep it open

Council leaders insist there are no plans to close a cherished community farm despite confirming they can no longer afford to fund it, and will get rid of the animals if they cannot find an organisation to take it over. Grimsbury Farm in Kingswood is losing South Gloucestershire Council £260,000 a year, with vet bills, skilled staff, feed and welfare totalling £200,000 and rising.

Cabinet members agreed to launch a “community conversation” in the spring to “make the farm better for residents” and invite expressions of interest from groups who could run it instead, according to a report to the meeting. But if this fails and no way is found to make the attraction break even, the large animals, including cows, pigs and goats, will be sent elsewhere, although the green space will remain open for free to the public.

The Lib Dem/ Labour cabinet rejected an option to shut and mothball the farm after being told the security costs of fencing and surveillance for such an extensive site would be huge. Helen Hughes, who has lived next to Grimsbury Farm for 27 years, told cabinet on Monday, February 3: “It’s a beautiful, much-loved, busy place used by visitors and the local Kingswood and Warmley community.

“After the gates have closed and the people have gone, the farm comes to life again. Flocks of birds land to feed on the field, the foxes appear and forage for food.

“There is a badger sett on the farm and bats start to appear in the spring. We first heard tawny owls in the 2020 lockdown – the female is still on the farm.

“The hedgerows are home to red-listed sparrows and many other small birds. The farm’s most valuable asset is the unimproved grassland, land that has been left undisturbed for decades.

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“It is an irreplaceable habitat. It’s a calm, safe place that people and nature share.

“I’m asking South Gloucestershire Council to think before any decisions are made and ask what is irreplaceable, what can’t be recreated once destroyed?” Cabinet member for communities and local place Cllr Sean Rhodes (Labour, Kingswood) replied: “I share all of the things that you said and I totally agree and recognise the value of all the things you mentioned, and that’s why there is no plan to close Grimsbury Farm.

“In fact, the things that you spoke about are the very things that we are going to look to expand on going forward to make Grimsbury Farm even bigger and better than it currently is. We are going to be engaging in community conversations with members of the public to get a better idea of what we need to do to keep Grimsbury Farm going as a little jewel within Kingswood.”

Ward Cllr Alison Evans (Labour, Woodstock) said: “I’m sorry you came thinking that the farm might be closed and that would all be lost but that is something that is definitely not on our radar. We want to keep the farm open for use and to actually expand it for all those biodiversity and wellbeing things you mentioned.”

Opposition Conservative group leader Cllr Sam Bromiley (Parkwall & Warmley) said he was encouraged by the intention to secure the site’s future and that a petition launched by the Tories to save the farm had been signed by more than 1,000 people, which showed its importance to the community. “However, what concerns me in the report is your plan to remove the large animals in June should no plan be identified,” he said.

“That is only four months away and we said months ago that removing the large animals from the farm is a de facto closing and will only lead to fewer visitors and more risk down the line. As this is such a valuable local asset, just four months to save the farm as it is is not long enough.”

Cllr Rhodes said: “‘To say the removal of any animals is a de facto closure is to misunderstand how farms operate. Animals come and go throughout the year – that’s what a working farm is.

“The simple fact is that as the farm is operating at the moment it is haemorrhaging money and it would be irresponsible for us as a cabinet to continue to allow that money to be lost. It is crucial that we find a way of creating a new farm, making it better than it currently is, that delivers more for residents and visitors.

“To simply try to plough on with things as they are is to just bury your head in the sand, and we’re not interested in doing that, we’re interested in what needs to be done to keep the farm, to improve the farm, to make sure it’s there as a resource for residents across South Glos. There is a commitment to keeping Grimsbury Farm operating.

“It’s a well-loved community asset and we all understand the value it brings to South Gloucestershire.” Cabinet member Cllr Louise Harris (Lib Dem, Dodington) said: “In 2020 the closure of Grimsbury Farm was proposed as a council-saving measure by the previous administration.

“It wasn’t implemented, and the directive was made towards going to a self-sustaining model, as the report clearly says. The report talks about June being the soonest [moving the animals away] can happen, not that it’s going to happen in June.”

The cabinet report said the council partnered with a further education provider in 2008 to train young people in farming and animal welfare. Two years later the friends group, supported by The Brandon Trust, converted a stone barn into a community cafe which gives adults with learning difficulties work experience.

The report said: “During 2022/23, the further education provider gave notice that it would discontinue its educational courses from the 2023/24 academic year, resulting in an annual income loss. A replacement agriculture-based educational skills partner has not been found.

“In 2023/24, the average cost for each of the large animals was approximately £3,200. With no income from further education courses to offset these costs, the farm has been unable to achieve revenue neutrality or find alternative income streams or a new operating partner.

“Consequently, the public subsidy of the farm has increased, which is unsustainable.”