A dangerous new property act (From Gazette & Herald)

A dangerous new property act

DURING my frighteningly long professional life, there have been various assaults by successive socialist governments on the Englishman's right to own and manage his own property.

I suppose this started with the penal Estate Duty, which caused the break-up of many of our major country estates because of the death taxes payable.

As the demand for housing grew, attention was turned to the acquisition of land for development and there was a two-pronged attack with compulsory purchase powers and a development land tax.

With hindsight, there was not much gain for a lot of pain, but the left wing persists with its jealous eye on other people's property with their latest bill which is going through the House of Lords called The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.

This new threat is more far-reaching and serious than any previous, and has largely gone through the system unnoticed.

Reportedly the legislation is designed to "speed up developments and take the heat out of the housing market", but, in practice, the result will be to make it easier for local authorities to force property owners to sell up.

Until now, local authorities could only compulsorily acquire land if they could show that it was necessary and suitable for their proposed plans.

The subtle change in the new law is that the planning authority has simply to "think that the acquisition will facilitate" the carrying out of an intended scheme. This will bring a completely new dimension in to the planning arena, as property owners may be forced to give up land for caravan parks, or screening gypsy sites, or even to provide car parking for out-of-town supermarkets.

As long as they "think" that your land, or your house, or your garden will help achieve their goals, it seems they can now take it even if the proposals contravene the local plan.

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill is yet another example of dogma outweighing reason. Even the Government's own advisory group could find nothing wrong with the present system, but nevertheless they went ahead.

Combine these new powers with the proposals for a Development Gain Tax (DGT) and farmers could soon find themselves facing crushing financial and regulatory powers forcing them to sell off assets.

There was an interesting report on the Today radio programme last week on the welfare aspect of ritual slaughtering, which has long been an accepted, but little publicised, practice in this country.

It has come under public scrutiny again because the Animal Welfare Council has concluded that there could be unnecessary suffering caused to animals during the slaughtering process, which involves slitting animals' throats rather than despatching them with a humane killer. As far as I know, there are two mainstream ritual slaughter practices - Halal, which produces Muslim meat, and Kosher, which provides meat for Jews.

In some cases, but by no means all, the animals are pre-stunned before having their throats cut. In a civilised, largely-Christian country, I find it inconsistent to require such high standards of welfare in our production process and yet not to carry that through to the slaughter and consumption stage.

To confuse matters even further, a significant part of the carcase is not acceptable for Kosher consumption, and the hind quarters are merely sold back onto the open market without any appropriate labelling so that the public are not informed of what they are eating. In fact, the pendulum has swung so far that some schools in ethnic areas serve all-Halal meat, just to make sure the Muslims don't have to eat anything contrary to their religious doctrine.

I listened to three contributors to the discussion. Firstly, a Muslim who said that ethnic minorities had very high welfare standards. Secondly, a Jew who claimed that it would be unjust to label Kosher meat separately; and, thirdly, minister of agriculture Ben Bradshaw who claimed that we should have a society that celebrates diversity and therefore accepted that the practice should continue..

I know I maybe out of step with modern thinking, but I find it difficult to understand the current fashionable obsession with pandering to ethnic minorities.

Can anyone remember which president of the United States once said: "There is only room in this country for one flag and one language"?

Brian Clifford bought three calves on January 17 and processed their passport applications on the same day.

Some weeks later, two passports were returned and he rang up to ask for the other one.

BCMS claims that it never arrived and demanded that Brian produce proof that he actually sent it.

Despite the fact that all three passports were sent off in the same envelope, and that he always processes his paperwork within 24 hours of getting it, the presumption as far as BCMS is concerned is that he is guilty.

After several irate phone calls, they still adamantly refused to issue a passport, but have accepted registration of the animal, which means that it can only go to slaughter outside of the human food chain. This is another example of totally incomprehensible stupidity which penalises the farmer, costs the country money and keeps unnecessary bureaucrats in a job.

Brian has discovered one route of proof, which he passes on to others, namely the request from your local post office for a "Certificate of Postage".

It is cattle more than the other species that will be most affected when the subsidies finish at the end of the year, and there has been much speculation as to what price will be necessary to clear costs.

The National Beef Association has been setting down its benchmark for future profitability at around 250p per kilogram deadweight, which equates to 150p per kilogram live weight.

The NBA is flagging up with supermarkets that they must price their meat to give a fair return to producers, otherwise there will be a mass exodus from beef production.

In reality, the predicted price rise of 30-50pc above current levels may not be achievable, but certainly the best chance of forcing the price up will be through the open market where producers do retain a bit of power.

Winnie Gray set her own benchmark at Tuesday's auction, making 140p/kg of a super Belgian Blue heifer.

With deadweight contracts, the balance of control does rest with the abattoir whatever producer groups may think.

A fortnight ago, I played truant from the market to go up to my old school, Sedbergh, for the Wilson Run, which is a gruelling 10-mile race across the fells and roads around the town.

My Ryton correspondent's husband and I struggled around the course in the morning, just making it back to see the race start with 80 competitors for the school. The main Ryedale interest was focused on James Hogg, who is the son of Peter who owns and runs Fletchers butchers shop in Norton.

Having won the race last year, James faced a more difficult task, having built up his physique for rugby and a strong field of contestants.

We drove down to Cautley where the runners crossed the road before going on to Baugh Fell. James lay fourth in the field, and was looking tired as he climbed the slope.

By the time he got to Danny Bridge, and the road back to Sedbergh, he had regained the lead and at the finishing line he was full 1 minutes ahead of the second place. It was a proud moment for the Hogg family, which we all enjoyed. James still has a year to go, and the chance of a third success, which has only ever been achieved once in the 120 years of the Wilson Run.

Forward on April 6 were 106 cattle including 49 bulls; 2,684 sheep including 88 spring lambs and 393 ewes.

Light steers to 107p from I Todd Lockton (average 102.1p), heavy steers to 129p from I Todd (104.6p). Light heifers to 147p from J L Gray, Grindale (127.7p), medium heifers to 129p from P M Allen, Great Barugh (108p), heavy heifers to 125p from Charity Farms, Thornton-le-Dale (106.6p.)

Light bulls to 107p from P M Allen, Great Barugh, medium bulls to 115p from Marwood Bros, Settrington (106.5p), heavy bulls to 114p from R H Mason, Wold Newton (104.2p), black and white bulls to 102p from C H Shipley, Wold Newton (93.2p).

Standard lambs to 179.4p from C & K Milburn, Scagglethorpe (178.2p), medium lambs to 185.3p from S & M Craven, Low Catton (173.7p), heavy lambs to 162.6p from S & M Craven (157.3p), Overweight lambs to 142p from A Harper & Son, Skiplam (136.1p).

Standard hoggets to 132.8p from J M Thompson & Son, Fridaythorpe (128p), medium hoggs to 152p from E Woodmancey & Son, Yatts (131.3p), heavy hoggs to 130.4p from C B Jacklin & Co, Yatts (120.9p), overweight hoggs to 125p from C F Beal, Yedingham (113.2p).

Ewes to £85 from D J Wilson Harome (£58).

Updated: 11:45 Wednesday, April 07, 2004